All eyes are on the Monday Night Football matchup between the leaders Köln and Union Berlin…as it turned out, it was a dominant performance by Köln, as they ripped the Berliners mercilessly. Union might have had a bit more posession, but the hosts attacked quickly and direct at goal, and were ruthless when they needed to be.

A top clash in Kaiserslautern saw St.Pauli holding it’s own, but then they collapsed in the second half and got kicked in the balls.

Greuther Fürth had been dropping points, but they came back with a vengeance. They quickly jumped all over host Aue and seemingly wrapped up the match. Erzgebirge, to their credit, didn’t give up and fought their way back into the match – but only for 60 seconds, as they then gave up an own goal. Any hope of a comeback was then gone, and like a shark, Greuther Fürth smelt blood and ripped their hosts to shreds.

Two crisis teams met in Cottbus, and the red flags must be going off in Luasitz country – and it’s not because of DDR nostalgia. Bochum was the beneficiary, and they needed this badly, as they’ve sucked as well. The match itself was pretty drab, but the visitors put together a clever spell near the end of the first half that was enough to get a huge road win. Most likely Energie coach Rudi Bommer will get canned.

Another crap performance by Fortuna Düsseldorf, going down in a lame performance at Aalen. Fortuna controlled most of the game, but had no clue what to do. As a result, the Aaleners were able to defend their lead and get a deserved win.

Both Paderborn and Ingolstadt have shown improvements recently, and that generally continued as they battled to a draw.

Dynamo Dresden played well and got an important road win at 1860.

Sandhausen has quietly pulled themselves back from the relegation zone. SVS outplayed FSV Frankfurt, another mini-club. The guests had more of the ball, but didn’t know what to do with it (perhaps “kick ball in net” should be covered in the next training session). Sandhausen showed a solid defense and overall good organization, and fully deserve this win.

Total attendance 157,579 (avg 17,509)

 	
Energie Cottbus	      -   VfL Bochum	        0:1 (0:1)    9,219

                     0:1  Sukuta-Pasu (37., Ilsö)
 
VfR Aalen	      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:0 (1:0)    9,279

                     1:0  Lechleiter (23., Buballa)

SC Paderborn 07	      -   FC Ingolstadt 04	1:1 (0:1)   10,506

                     0:1  Caiuby (27., P. Hofmann)
                     1:1  Krösche (64., Bertels)

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   FC St. Pauli	        4:1 (1:1)   35,330

                     1:0  Zoller (6., Idrissou)
                     1:1  Kalla (31., Bartels)
                     2:1  Zoller (49., Idrissou)
                     3:1  Gonther (65., own goal, Fortounis)
                     4:1  Karl (90. + 3, Idrissou)

Erzgebirge Aue	      -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	2:6 (1:3)    8,750

                     0:1  Füllkrug (5.)
                     0:2  Füllkrug (8., Trinks)
                     0:3  Füllkrug (17., Gießelmann)
                     1:3  Sylvestr (25., Benatelli)
                     2:3  Rau (47., Benatelli)
                     2:4  Rau (48., own goal, Brosinski)
                     2:5  Stieber (56., penalty, Gießelmann)
                     2:6  Füllkrug (86., Baba)
 
1860 München	      -   Dynamo Dresden	1:3 (1:2)   23,500

                     0:1  Poté (2., Susac)
                     1:1  Vallori (9., Y. Stark)
                     1:2  Dedic (10., Losilla)
                     1:3  Aoudia (90. + 3, penalty, Koch)

SV Sandhausen	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        2:0 (1:0)    3,550

                     1:0  D. Blum (12.)
                     2:0  Tüting (56., D. Blum)

Karlsruher SC	      -   Arminia Bielefeld	3:1 (0:0)   12,445

                     0:1  Achahbar (48., Feick)
                     1:1  van der Biezen (64., penalty, Nazarov)
                     2:1  Peitz (70., Klingmann)
                     3:1  van der Biezen (90., penalty, Hennings)

1. FC Köln	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	4:0 (2:0)   45,000

                     1:0  Risse (22., M. Lehmann)
                     2:0  Risse (30., Gerhardt)
                     3:0  Gerhardt (52.,  Helmes)
                     4:0  Hector (66., D. Halfar)
 	


 1  1. FC Köln	  	        13   7 	6  0 	  21:5 	 +16 	  24 
 2  1. FC Union Berlin	  	13   7 	3  3 	  21:16  +5 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	13   7 	2  4 	  26:16  +10 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Kaiserslautern	13   6 	4  3 	  21:14  +7 	  22 
 5  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	13   5 	4  4 	  16:14  +2 	  19 
 6  VfR Aalen	  	        13   5 	4  4 	  13:12  +1 	  19 
 7  SC Paderborn 07	  	13   5 	4  4 	  23:23   0 	  19 
 8  FC St. Pauli	  	13   5 	4  4 	  18:18   0 	  19 
 9  SV Sandhausen	  	13   4 	5  4 	  10:11  -1 	  17 
10  FSV Frankfurt	  	13   4 	4  5 	  17:15  +2 	  16 
11  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	13   4 	4  5 	  14:20  -6 	  16 
12  VfL Bochum	  	        13   4 	3  6 	  14:14   0 	  15 
13  Dynamo Dresden	  	13   3 	6  4 	  14:19  -5 	  15 
14  1860 München	  	13   4 	3  6 	  10:15  -5 	  15 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	13   5 	0  8 	  16:25  -9 	  15
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	13   4 	2  7 	  18:26  -8 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Energie Cottbus	  	13   3 	4  6 	  18:18   0 	  13 
18  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	13   3 	2  8 	  12:21  -9 	  11

A = Absteiger just Relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga

Dortmund faced off against an Angstgegner, VfB Stuttgart, who have managed to draw the last four visits to the Westfalen-Stadion. And this visit the Stuttgarters jumped out to a quick lead, perhaps indicated it would be more of the same. However this time the Neons were in-synch, and launched a furious assault that eventually overwhelmed the visitors. Robert Lewandowski might be leaving on a free, but he’s continuing his business, netting a hat-trick. The end result is a shock, as already mentioned Stuttgart has given Dortmund a lot of trouble, but this time the Neons were on fire.

Bayern München had a hard time, but came away with a win at Hoffenheim. This allows them to tie Hamburg’s record of 36 Bundesliga matches without defeat. However, it wasn’t easy, as Hoffenheim made things quite difficult. It was another Manuel Neuerism that gave the Hoppers the lead, as he dropped a ball for an easy tap-in. For such a world-class keeper, Neuer probably makes more bone-head plays than any other. Still, in the end, Bayern was not to be denied, perhaps a little lucky to get the win, but they got the job done. Hoffenheim put up a good fight and continue in their rehabilitation.

Disaster for Leverkusen. Visiting tail-end Braunschweig, the Aspirins figured they could rest several starters, but despite dominating teh match, they were unable to punch home a goal. Eintracht defended tooth and nail, and then grabbed a somewhat lucky late goal to get a famous win. They’re still bottom, but this one is nice. The Aspirins out-clevered themselves and perhaps indicate that they really don’t beleive they can match Bayern and Dortmund, and thus will be satisifed with easy Champions League qualification.

Max Kruse took advantage of two Hamburg defensive lapses and grabbed a pair of goals to give Gladbach a good away win. Gladbach is strong at home, but usually sucks on the road, so any points are good points. HSV was shocked in the 1st half, but Van Marwijk got this side straightened out at half, and they were close to tying the match after sustained pressure. Lars Sobiech, who had gifted Kruse the first goal with a hospital pass, then repeated the action and sunk the Hamburgers. For Gladbach, they’re trying to establish themselves in that last Champions League spot, and this is a step in the right direction. HSV didn’t play badly, but poor Sobiech ends up the scapegoat.

Schalke has been dicking around lately, getting biatch-slapped both in Bundes and Champions liga. So it wouldn’t surprise anyone if the same didn’t happen to them in Berlin. Indeed, Hertha looked the more confident club, creating pressure, but Schalke held firm and used counters to their advantage. The result was a badly needed victory, hopefully getting them back on track. However the Blues are most likely to continue to dick around, so it’s more likely they’ll flounder around. Hertha will be disappointed that they end up with nothing. So far, they’ve played well in their return to the Bundesliga.

The relegation battle ended in a disaster for host Nürnberg, as they got owned at home by Freiburg. This was a battle of “non-victory” clubs, so one might have expected a drab scoreless draw. Actually, FCN generally dominated the match, but last week’s goat, SCF GK Oliver Baumann, was the hero, as he was in top form. Meanwhile, as der club got increasingly frustrated, the Breisgauer turned the match on it’s head with late goals. Nürnberg ended up hitting the post twice, and wasted several huge chances – and anything else Baumann stopped.

Wolfsburg has been quietly improving, and the VWs managed to get a win at Frankfurt, who are struggling at home. The visitors were perhaps slightly better for most of the match, as Eintracht struggled to get anything going. So on that account, a fair win for the VWs.

Augsburg got an important win, breaking their recent slump. Mainz was generally on the back foot for most of the match, although they were pressuring at the end as FCA was out of gas. Nevertheless, Augsburg deserves the win due to the fact it took Mainz too long to wake up.

A hard fought northern derby in Bremen saw Werder get a critical win against hannover to stop their slide. Both sides ran around a lot, neither exhibiting much technical prowess. Bremen seemed to want it a little more, so the victory isn’t undeserved.

Total attendance 409,603 (avg 45,511), sellouts in Dortmund, Hoffenheim and Hamburg

Borussia Dortmund    -   VfB Stuttgart	         6:1 (2:1)   80,645 *

                    0:1  Haggui (13., Maxim)
                    1:1  Sokratis (19., Sahin)
                    2:1  Reus (22.)
                    3:1  Lewandowski (54., Reus)
                    4:1  Lewandowski (56., H. Mkhitaryan)
                    5:1  Lewandowski (72., Blaszczykowski)
                    6:1  Aubameyang (81., Lewandowski)

1. FC Nürnberg	     -   SC Freiburg	         0:3 (0:0)   37,069

                    0:1  Klaus (57., Freis)
                    0:2  Darida (79.)
                    0:3  Mehmedi (88.)

1899 Hoffenheim	     -   Bayern München	         1:2 (1:1)   30,150 *

                    1:0  Süle (34., Herdling)
                    1:1  Mandzukic (39., Ribery)
                    1:2  T. Müller (75., Ribery)

Hamburger SV	     -   Bor. Mönchengladbach	 0:2 (0:1)   57,000 *

                    0:1  M. Kruse (23.)
                    0:2  M. Kruse (63., Raffael)

Eintr Braunschweig   -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	 1:0 (0:0)   22,720

                    1:0  Kumbela (81., Theuerkauf)

Hertha BSC	     -   FC Schalke 04	         0:2 (0:1)   69,277

                    0:1  Szalai (26., Aogo)
                    0:2  Draxler (90. + 4, J. Jones)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -   VfL Wolfsburg	         1:2 (1:1)   44,300

                    0:1  Anderson (2., own goal, Ochs)
                    1:1  Meier (35., direct freekick)
                    1:2  Arnold (82., Ochs)

FC Augsburg	     -   1. FSV Mainz 05	 2:1 (1:0)   28,007

                    1:0  Hahn (27., Baier)
                    2:0  Hahn (49., To. Werner)
                    2:1  Choupo-Moting (59., penalty, Polter)
 
Werder Bremen	     -   Hannover 96	         3:2 (2:2)   40,435

                    0:1  Huszti (20., penalty, Huszti)
                    1:1  Hunt (25., penalty, Elia)
                    2:1  Makiadi (38., Junuzovic)
                    2:2  H. Sakai (41.)
                    3:2  Garcia (86., Hunt)

	
 1  Bayern München (M, P)	11    9  2  0 	  24:7 	 +17 	  29 
 2  Borussia Dortmund	  	11    9  1  1 	  31:9 	 +22 	  28 
 3  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	11    8  1  2 	  22:11  +11 	  25
 4  Bor. Mönchengladbach	11    6  1  4 	  25:15  +10 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	11    6  0  5 	  16:13  +3 	  18 
 6  FC Schalke 04	  	11    5  2  4 	  20:22  -2 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	11    4  3  4 	  17:14  +3 	  15 
 8  Werder Bremen	  	11    4  3  4 	  12:17  -5 	  15 
 9  1899 Hoffenheim	  	11    3  4  4 	  26:25  +1 	  13 
10  VfB Stuttgart	  	11    3  4  4 	  21:20  +1 	  13 
11  Hannover 96	  	        11    4  1  6 	  14:19  -5 	  13 
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	11    4  1  6 	  16:23  -7 	  13 
13  FC Augsburg	  	        11    4  1  6 	  13:20  -7 	  13 
14  Hamburger SV	  	11    3  3  5 	  23:24  -1 	  12 
15  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	11    2  4  5 	  14:20  -6 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Freiburg	  	        11    1  5  5 	  12:21  -9 	  8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1. FC Nürnberg	  	11    0  7  4 	  11:22  -11 	  7 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	11    2  1  8 	   8:23  -15 	  7


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted

1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Relegation to 2.Liga