Editor Note: Vacation

I’m on vacation and visiting relatives in Goiania, Brazil (Well represented in Brazilian football, Goias in Serie A, Vila Nova and Atletico Goianense in Serie B. There’s also EC Goiania in, err, Serie Z…)

Anyway, the only site impact is that my laptop blew up and sometimes internet is spotty, so things may not return to normal until mid January….

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!

BUNDESLIGA, Round 17 – winterbreak

The winner of course this weekend is no surprise: Bayern München. The champions didn’t even play in Germany, instead winning the worthless World Club Championship to yet another trophy to the 2013 haul and officially crown themselves as the world’s best club side. Instead, the rest of the teams demonstrated that the “Uli Hoeness rule” (“The other teams are too dumb to win the title”) is alive and well, as both Dortmund and Luserkusen went down in flames.

Dortmund was stunned at home by Hertha, but can’t blame anybody but themselves. They grabbed an early lead, but failed to deliver a knockout. Hertha struck back and held off immense Neon pressure, as the home side seemed to lack ideas on how to break through.
A defensive lapse did in the Dortmunders, as new defender Marian Sarr fumbled the ball, and let journeyman Sami Allagui steal the ball and score. Despite non-stop Dortmund assault, the goal held up. Great win for Berlin, but BVB should have had this one.

Meanwhile the Aspirins had an “easy” match on paper, against flailing Bremen. But although Luserkusen held the ball and seemingly had things under control, Werder fought fiercely and eventually clubbed the Corporates. A deserved (and desperately needed) win for the struggling homeside, since the Bayer side didn’t look they really cared enough.

Hamburg has lost their way, and Mainz seems to have found theirs. The visitors kept on playing till the end, and were rewarded with a nice away win, largely thanks to the outstanding Shinji Okazaki, another fine Japanese import. HSV was too lethargic and deservedly takes it on the chin.

Frankfurt was energetic, but didn’t have much of a clue on how to break down Augsburg’s strong defense. As a result, lots of kickabout and lost passes on both sides.

Freiburg seized their chance to climb back into viewing distance of the safety area from relegation. The Breigauers totally outplayed Hannover, and setup the win in the 1st half. After the restart, the 96ers woke up and tried to get back, but SCF was strong in defense and easily held on until time was basically up. There are increasing rumours of an Xmas ass-firing for 96er coach Mirko Slomka, who not that long ago was being hailed as the architect of Hannover’s best ever. The most interesting rumour is that he might be replaced by Werder Bremen legend Thomas Schaaf.

Braunschweig keeps on fighting, and held on against Hoffenheim, despite being a man down in the stretch. An exciting, hard fought match, and perhaps the Hoppers did deserve something. The highlight however seems to have been the post-game interview from Hoff coach Markus Gisdol, railing like a psycho against Braunschweig’s tactics or something. Yeah, whatever, STFU, you lost because you didn’t kick the round thing into the net…

Nürnberg once again failed, so they have to wait till next year until getting win. Schalke was apparently taking the “fan friendship” with FCN too seriously, as they basically did zero the whole match. Der Club had several good chances, but not surprisingly, they failed. I don’t think anyone can complain, except of course the fans that had to watch this…

Gladbach and Wolfsburg delivered the best match of the weekend, both sides in for and going for a win. In the end, a draw is a fair result, and both go into winterbreak with something positive: Gladbach is in a Champions League spot, and the VWs actually have had their best first half season start, even better than their stunning title from a few years ago.

 	
Eintracht Frankfurt     -   FC Augsburg	        1:1 (1:1)   46,400

                       0:1  Bobadilla (33.)
                       1:1  Rosenthal (42.)

Borussia Dortmund	-   Hertha BSC	        1:2 (1:2)   80,645 *

                       1:0  Reus (7., Kehl)
                       1:1  Ramos (23., Allagui)
                       1:2  Allagui (45.)

Werder Bremen	        -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	1:0 (0:0)   39,145

                       1:0  Garcia (74., Makiadi)

SC Freiburg	        -   Hannover 96	        2:1 (2:0)   23,200

                       1:0  Mehmedi (25., Fernandes)
                       2:0  Mehmedi (36., Schmid)
                       2:1  Bittencourt (90. + 3, Prib)

Hamburger SV	        -   1. FSV Mainz 05	2:3 (1:0)   50,918

                       1:0  Calhanoglu (21., Badelj)
                       1:1  Okazaki (47., Malli)
                       1:2  N. Müller (50., Okazaki)
                       2:2  van der Vaart (79., Tah)
                       2:3  Okazaki (90. + 2, Pospech)

Eintracht Braunschweig  -   1899 Hoffenheim	1:0 (1:0)   21,600

                       1:0  Oehrl (29., penalty, Bicakcic)

1. FC Nürnberg	        -   FC Schalke 04	0:0 (0:0)   42,687

Bor. Mönchengladbach    -   VfL Wolfsburg	2:2 (0:0)   53,301

                       0:1  Diego (53., Rodriguez)
                       1:1  Raffael (59., M. Kruse)
                       2:1  Arango (64., direct freekick)
                       2:2  Dost (85., RLuiz Gustavo)


Wednesday:
VfB Stuttgart           -   Bayern München	-:- (-:-) 	


 1  Bayern München (M, P)	16   14   2   0    42:8   +34 	  44
 2  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	17   12   1   4    32:16  +16 	  37
 3  Bor. Mönchengladbach        17   10   3   4    35:19  +16 	  33
 4  Borussia Dortmund	  	17   10   2   5    38:20  +18 	  32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	17    9   3   5    28:19  +9 	  30 
 6  Hertha BSC Berlin  (N)	17    8   4   5    27:20  +7 	  28
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  FC Schalke 04	  	17    8   4   5    32:28  +4 	  28 
 8  FC Augsburg	  	        17    7   3   7    21:25  -4 	  24 
 9  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	17    7   3   7    25:31  -6 	  24 
10  VfB Stuttgart	  	16    5   4   7    29:31  -2 	  19 
11  Werder Bremen	  	17    5   4   8    22:37  -15 	  19 
12  1899 Hoffenheim	  	17    4   6   7    36:38  -2 	  18 
13  Hannover 96	  	        17    5   3   9    23:31  -8 	  18 
14  Hamburger SV	  	17    4   4   9    33:38  -5 	  16 
15  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	17    3   6   8    20:29  -9 	  15
--------------------------------------------------------------------                          
16  SC Freiburg	  	        17    3   5   9    16:31  -15 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1. FC Nürnberg	  	17    0   11  6    17:33  -16 	  11 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	17    3   2  12    10:32  -22 	  11
 

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

2.Liga, Round 19 – winterbreak

One thing about the Zweite Liga: it’s a fierce competition, and this week was no exception, as everyone was scrambling to improve their position going into winterbreak.

The big winner was leaders Köln, as they maintained their position at the top with a tough win in the Rheinderby at Düsseldorf. The visitors put in a strong performance, and seemed to have everything under control. But Fortuna threw everything forward in the 2nd half and managed to square the match. The chase seemed to have emptied their tanks however, and Köln pounced ruthlessly to grab a deserved win.

Köln’s win meant that the chasing teams needed wins as well, and despite struggles they managed to come through, with one notable exception. St.Pauli was beginning to smell the Bundesliga once again, but were given a cold shower by Karlsruhe. KSC is one of the surprises, and with this impressive away win, turn themselves into contenders as well. Also getting tough wins were Greuther Fürth and Kaiserslautern, and Union Berlin is back in form to create a four-way tie for the 3rd spot.

Aalen gave their coach a nice Xmas present: they fired his ass. Seems a bit extreme in the ho-ho-ho department, as Aalen is really a small squad without talent, but had been punching above their weight.

 	
FC St. Pauli	      -   Karlsruher SC	        0:2 (0:0)   29,063 *

                     0:1  Micanski (63., Hennings)
                     0:2  Torres (84., Micanski)

SV Sandhausen	      -   Erzgebirge Aue        1:0 (1:0)    3,310

                     1:0  Ulm (31., penalty, Adler)

Dynamo Dresden	      -   VfL Bochum	        0:0 (0:0)   27,872

FSV Frankfurt	      -   1860 München	        2:2 (1:1)    5,814

                     1:0  Leckie (21., Kapllani)
                     1:1  Stoppelkamp (38., Hand penalty)
                     2:1  Yelen (70., direct freekick)
                     2:2  Stoppelkamp (90., Hertner)

1. FC Union Berlin    -   Arminia Bielefeld     4:2 (3:1)   20,314

                     0:1  Klos (1., Schönfeld)
                     1:1  Eggimann (18., Mattuschka)
                     2:1  Kohlmann (26., Nemec)
                     3:1  Nemec (42., Mattuschka)
                     4:1  Mattuschka (49., penalty, Kohlmann)
                     4:2  Jerat (51., penalty, Klos)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   VfR Aalen	        1:0 (0:0)   10,170

                     1:0  Füllkrug (60.)

SC Paderborn 07	      -   Energie Cottbus       1:0 (0:0)    8,578

                     1:0  Hünemeier (63., Vrancic)

Fortuna Düsseldorf    -   1. FC Köln	        2:3 (0:2)   52,500 *

                     0:1  Ujah (29., Helmes)
                     0:2  Helmes (38.)
                     1:2  Hoffer (55., Gartner)
                     2:2  Benschop (62., direct freekick)
                     2:3  Ujah (75., D. Halfar)


Monday:
FC Ingolstadt 04      -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	1:2 (1:1)   10,354

                     1:0  Mo. Hartmann (18., Caiuby)
                     1:1  Zoller (32., Torrejon)
                     1:2  Zoller (65., Idrissou)


 1  1. FC Köln   	  	19   11  6  2 	  32:10  +22 	  39
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	19   11  2  6 	  35:22  +13 	  35
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern	19    9  4  6 	  32:20  +12 	  31 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	19    8  7  4 	  26:17  +9 	  31
 5  1. FC Union Berlin	  	19    9  4  6 	  31:26  +5 	  31 
 6  FC St. Pauli	  	19    9  4  6 	  26:23  +3 	  31 
 7  SC Paderborn 07	  	19    8  5  6 	  32:32   0 	  29 
 8  1860 München	  	19    8  4  7 	  18:21  -3 	  28 
 9  SV Sandhausen	  	19    7  6  6 	  17:17   0 	  27 
10  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	19    7  4  8 	  21:29  -8 	  25 
11  VfL Bochum	  	        19    6  5  8 	  18:20  -2 	  23 
12  VfR Aalen	  	        19    6  5  8 	  18:21  -3 	  23 
13  FSV Frankfurt	  	19    5  6  8 	  27:29  -2 	  21 
14  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	18    6  3  9 	  17:24  -7 	  21 
15  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	19    6  3  10 	  27:36  -9 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Erzgebirge Aue	  	19    6  3  10    21:30  -9 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Dynamo Dresden	  	19    4  9  6 	  20:29  -9 	  21 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	19    3  4  12    21:32  -11 	  13


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

3.Liga, Round 21 – winterbreak

Heidenheim finally was stopped, giving up a goal after 685 clean-sheet minutes. MSV Duisburg played one of their better matches, getting a point against the pace-setters.

Big win for Leipzig in an eastern derby in front of a large crowd. Halle fought well, but didn’t have enough in the tank to get a point against the RedBulls.

Holstein Kiel had favored Rostock on the ropes, and should have won. The problem was that the Storks wasted some huge chances, and allowed Hansa to escape with a lucky point.

Stuttgarter Kickers was a big winner, getting their first away win in a well played match at contenders Erfurt.

 	
VfB Stuttgart II	 -   Borussia Dortmund II   1:2 (0:0)      920  	
SV Elversberg	         -   SV Darmstadt 98	    0:3 (0:1)    1,438
1. FC Heidenheim	 -   MSV Duisburg	    2:2 (1:1)    8,600
RasenBallsport Leipzig	 -   Hallescher FC	    2:1 (0:0)   20,354
Rot Weiß Erfurt	         -   Stuttgarter Kickers    1:2 (1:1)    5,709
SV Wehen Wiesbaden	 -   1. FC Saarbrücken	    1:0 (1:0)    3,265
Holstein Kiel	         -   Hansa Rostock	    2:2 (1:2)    9,031
VfL Osnabrück	         -   Chemnitzer FC	    0:2 (0:1)    7,325
SpVgg Unterhaching	 -   Jahn Regensburg	    0:4 (0:2)    2,200
Wacker Burghausen	 -   Preußen Münster	    2:4 (1:1)    1,860


 1  1. FC Heidenheim	  	21   14  5  2 	  35:13  +22 	  47
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	21   12  4  5 	  34:23  +11 	  40
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Darmstadt 98	  	21   10  5  6 	  33:18  +15 	  35
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Hansa Rostock	  	21   10  5  6 	  27:28  -1 	  35 
 5  Rot Weiß Erfurt	  	21   10  2  9 	  33:24  +9 	  32 
 6  VfL Osnabrück	  	21    9  4  8 	  27:24  +3 	  31
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	21    8  7  6 	  26:26   0 	  31
 8  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	21    7  7  7 	  27:27   0 	  28 
 9  Borussia Dortmund II	21    8  4  9 	  29:32  -3 	  28 
10  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	21    7  7  7 	  28:34  -6 	  28 
11  Preußen Münster	  	21    6  9  6 	  34:31  +3 	  27 
12  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	21    7  6  8 	  29:30  -1 	  27 
13  Chemnitzer FC	  	21    6  8  7 	  24:26  -2 	  26
14  VfB Stuttgart II	  	21    7  5  9 	  26:29  -3 	  26 
15  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	21    7  4  10 	  26:27  -1 	  25 
16  SV Elversberg (N)	  	21    7  4  10 	  17:28  -11 	  25 
17  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	21    5  9  7 	  24:23  +1 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Hallescher FC	  	21    7  3  11 	  20:26  -6 	  24 
19  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	21    4  7  10 	  24:35  -11 	  19 
20  Wacker Burghausen 	  	21    4  5  12 	  22:41  -19 	  17


A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

2.Liga, Round 18

The second season started and some surprising results that tighten up all the races.

Things started off with a “wimper” on Friday night. The Lautern – Paderborn match was expected to rain goals, as both sides have some of the top offenses in the league, and to make things even better, Paderborn has one of the worst defenses. Instead, the home side showed little, a lethargic performance that certainly was head scratching. Paderborn actually showed some defensive organization, and then did enough to grab and important away win, which firmly establishes them in mid table no-mans-land. FCK would suffer more as the round developed, as St.Pauli was lurking in the background…

Leaders Köln were solid, getting a fine performance from Patrick Helmes. The returning striker has been superb since coming back from the wilderness of Wolfsburg, and this seems to be a pattern of ex-Geisböcke – perhaps they should convince Prinz Poldi to come back yet again. Anyway, Köln dominated from start to finish, and Dresden can thank the leader’s benevolence it did not receive a worse hiding.

A shocking match in Bielefeld, as struggling Arminia delivered an ass whipping on promotion favorite Greuther Fürth.
The visitors were not prepared for the aggressive Arminen, figuring they could just show up and their superior talent would get them the points. Instead they were taken aback by the fighting homeside, and when they missed some chances to hold off the upstarts, eventually got overrun by Bielefeld. Arminia desperately needed this win, and to their credit, they went out and seized it. Greuther Fürth used to be all about fighting hard, but since their stay in the Bundesliga, now back down with the dregs, they’ve gotten a bit snooty.

St.Pauli is back in the hunt as they stun everybody by vaulting into 3rd with a solid performance at 1860. The homeside was pathetic, completely uninterested in playing. The Paulistas didn’t really know what to do, but eventually figured out they should just score a couple of goals and get a nice road win. The Toothless Lions? Worst offense in the league. Can’t even score more then Sandhausen, for goodness sakes!

Union Berlin had completely lost their way after a good start, and Bochum had shown some signs of life. So this was a critical match for both, and the visiting Berliners decisively kicked ass. Bochum were like toothless lions – well actually more like toothless kitty-kats, as 1860 already claims the “Lions” – and Unions ran rings around them, doing whatever they pleased. The Berliners took out some of their recent frustration and delivered a sound hiding, perhaps a sign that they’re back. Bochum? Back to the drawing board…

A crucial match in Cottbus goes to Düsseldorf. Energie actually lived up to their name, attacking furiously and getting an early goal thanks to a rather lame defense by Fortuna GK Fabian Giefer. However the future Schalker was brilliant the rest of the way, as he was death to multiple excellent Energie chances. Meanwhile, Fortuna put it together and launched deadly counters, and Cottbus was sucker punched. The grim result is that Cottbus has lost contact with the rest of the field, and since they’ve already fired their coach, it’s hard to see an adrenaline boost there. For Düsseldorf, an important road win that helps stabilize the ship.

The “nobody cares derby” between the two dwarves Aalen and Sandhausen ended in a predictable snoozer. A good point for each, and both continue to perform above expectations.

Another relegation battle in Aue, and Ingolstadt can feel a bit perturbed that they didn’t get the calls. They scored what looked like a fair early goal, but the ref called it off. Then a harsh penalty was awarded against them, but their GK stopped it. So the match petered out to a draw, perhaps a fair result, as Erzgebirge had more of the play, but the Schanzer can feel like they deserved the points.

A shocking outcome in Karlsruhe, where sinking FSV Frankfurt pulled a reverse-Nürnberg – down 0-3 at half, the Bornheimers battled back to draw! Of course, the home side has only themselves to blame. KSC was kicking FSV’s ass severely and had things wrapped up by half. Then they took their foot off the gas pedal, and received a clinical lesson in why you never do that. If you’re up 3-0, you try for 4-0, and if 4-0, why not make it 5-0? And then half-dozen is nice, and if you get seven or more, it’s legendary. Instead the KSC players went to the pub and FSV woke up and launched a furious comeback. Interesting that they got a penalty goal from Kapllani. This is noteworthy because a couple of games ago, the Albanian international was fighting with his teammates over taking a penalty. So the coach kicked him off the team. But the same teammates asked that the hothead be allowed back, and in his first game back, he scores off a penalty. Anyway, an unexpected point that FSV needed badly. Karlsruhe fans must be completely outraged.

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   SC Paderborn 07	0:1 (0:0)   23,794

                     0:1  Wurtz (73.)

1. FC Köln	      -   Dynamo Dresden	3:1 (2:0)   45,000 

                     1:0  Helmes (14., Brecko)
                     2:0  Helmes (25., Gerhardt)
                     3:0  Brecko (52., Helmes)
                     3:1  Aoudia (56.)

VfR Aalen	      -   SV Sandhausen	        0:0 (0:0)    4,781 

Energie Cottbus	      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:3 (1:1)    7,050 

                     1:0  Affane (7., Bickel)
                     1:1  Hoffer (11., Paurevic)
                     1:2  Benschop (63., Erat)
                     1:3  Erat (83.)

VfL Bochum	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	0:4 (0:2)   13,117

                     0:1  Quiring (13., Dausch)
                     0:2  Quiring (36., Dausch)
                     0:3  Terodde (47., Kopplin)
                     0:4  Köhler (52., direct freekick)

Erzgebirge Aue	      -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:0 (0:0)    7,200

Karlsruher SC	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        3:3 (3:0)   13,500

                     1:0  Micanski (8., Torres)
                     2:0  Hennings (28., Torres)
                     3:0  Micanski (32., Torres)
                     3:1  Yelen (65., direct freekick)
                     3:2  Kapllani (83., Hand penalty)
                     3:3  Yelen (87., Epstein)

Arminia Bielefeld     -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	4:1 (1:1)   11,313

                     1:0  Schönfeld (24., Lorenz)
                     1:1  Fürstner (26., Trinks)
                     2:1  Lorenz (51., Appiah)
                     3:1  Jerat (76., Appiah)
                     4:1  Rahn (78., Lorenz)

                              
Monday:
1860 München	      -   FC St. Pauli	        0:2 (0:1)   23,700

                     0:1  Nöthe (43., Rzatkowski)
                     0:2  Bartels (81., Buchtmann)
	

 1  1. FC Köln	  	     18  10  6 	2 	  29:8 	 +21 	  36
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A) 18  10  2 	6 	  34:22  +12 	  32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  FC St. Pauli	     18   9  4 	5 	  26:21  +3 	  31
--------------------------------------------------------------------  
 4  1. FC Kaiserslautern     18   8  4 	6 	  30:19  +11      28
 5  Karlsruher SC (N)	     18   7  7 	4 	  24:17  +7 	  28 
 6  1. FC Union Berlin	     18   8  4 	6 	  27:24  +3 	  28 
 7  1860 München	     18   8  3 	7 	  16:19  -3 	  27 
 8  SC Paderborn 07          18   7  5 	6 	  31:32  -1 	  26 
 9  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)   18   7  4 	7 	  19:26  -7 	  25  
10  SV Sandhausen            18   6  6 	6 	  16:17  -1 	  24 
11  VfR Aalen	  	     18   6  5 	7 	  18:20  -2 	  23 
12  VfL Bochum 	   	     18   6  4 	8 	  18:20  -2 	  22  
13  Arminia Bielefeld (N)    18   6  3 	9 	  25:32  -7 	  21 
14  FC Ingolstadt 04	     18   6  3 	9 	  17:24  -7       21 
15  Erzgebirge Aue 	     18   6  3 	9 	  21:29  -8 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FSV Frankfurt	     18   5  5 	8 	  25:27  -2 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Dynamo Dresden	     18   4  8 	6 	  20:29  -9 	  20
18  Energie Cottbus          18   3  4 	11 	  21:31  -10 	  13


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

BUNDESLIGA, Round 16

Bayern München continues to march along happily, as it’s rivals basically self-destruct. This time it was Leverkusen’s turn, as they got their balls kicked by struggling Frankfurt.

The champions really had no problems with Hamburg, notching up another ho-hum win. It took them a while to get going, but this one was never in doubt. Bayern left for Morrocco after the match, for the worthless FIFA World Club Championship, and HSV goes back to Hamburg to try and get some more points before winter-break.

Luserkusen managed to eliminate some of the shame as they qualified for the Champions League knockout rounds. Then they went out and delivered another stinker. The Aspirins were completely flat and were totally outplayed by visiting Frankfurt. They were lucky not to be behind, but although they woke up and started attacking furiously, they were nailed by a blitz counter sucker punch. In the end, Leno even had to stop a penalty, while Leverkusen could have played another 30 minutes and not scored. Good win for Eintracht, who needed this desperately.

Hoffenheim was on their way to a great win against Dortmund. The Hoppers were all over the injured ravaged Neons, and in firm control. But then GK Grahl dropped Reus’ conrner kick and Aubameyang ended up with a tap in. This seemed to revive Borussia, and they came out determined in the 2nd half. Hoffenheim was close to getting over-run, but they managed to stave off a loss and overall it was a fair split of the points.

Mainz and Gladbach pretty much delivered a snooze-fest as neither side wanted to take any risks. So a solid kickabout with little to recommend.

Wolfsburg has been playing well, and more importantly, been getting some results. Stuttgart is unpredictable. The VWs get an important win in their press for Europe, but were somewhat lucky. Stuttgart actually controlled most of the game, but Wolfsburg took their chances well.

Hertha BSC continued their happy return to the top flight with a win over struggling Bremen. Overall, it was a pretty entertaining match, and the “Old Dame” of Berlin ended up with a deserved three points. Werder looked much better than their disgraceful showing last week to Bayern, but were eventually done in by defensive mistakes. They’re floating dangerously to the relegation zone, but with a little improvement should be OK.

Augsburg is playing with a new found confidence – confident in the knowledge that there are plenty of teams that suck more than they do. Braunschweig is one of those. FCA attacked furiously for about 20 minutes. Braunschwieg defended firmly, only to be undone by a somewhat questionable penalty. Then it took only 10 more minutes for the Fuggers to wrap up the match. Overall, a good performance by FCA, and par for the course for the visitors.

Schalke hardly played well, but they were home to Freiburg, so they didn’t have to. They applied moderate pressure and waiting for the Breisgauers to screw up, which they managed to do just before half. The Blues then added another for a ho-hum victory against a club that looks like they want to get relegated.

Mein Gott, Nürnberg manages to suck even when they’re not sucking! Der Club was still waiting for a *first* win, but finally looked like they had it wrapped up. Leading 3-0 at half against a stinking Hannover, FCN looked anything but the horrible side they’ve been. Now against anybody else, the 96ers probably would have just laid down and tried to hide in the 2nd half, but this is Nürnberg, so they decided on all-out assault. They did manage a goal, but the visitors defended reasonably well and looked to have weathered the storm. Then shockingly at the death they gave up two goals and the win was gone. All coach Gert Verbeek could do is whine about some questionable referee decisions…Shut the f*&^ up, you wanker!! Yes, it was offsides, but you lost a three goal lead, you need to just shut up. Pretty sad all things considered, because Nürnberg played about 87 minutes of good football.

 	
Hertha BSC	     -   Werder Bremen	        3:2 (2:2)   48,721

                    0:1  Petersen (15., Hunt)
                    1:1  Ramos (17., penalty, Skjelbred)
                    2:1  Ramos (26., Skjelbred)
                    2:2  Hunt (32., Petersen)
                    3:2  Ronny (48., Pekarik)

Bayern München	     -   Hamburger SV	        3:1 (1:0)   71,000 *

                    1:0  Mandzukic (42., Rafinha)
                    2:0  M. Götze (52., Thiago)
                    2:1  Lasogga (87., Jansen)
                    3:1  Shaqiri (90. + 3, Höjbjerg)

Hannover 96	     -   1. FC Nürnberg	        3:3 (0:3)   38,100

                    0:1  Hlousek (30., Hasebe)
                    0:2  Drmic (38., Kiyotake)
                    0:3  Nilsson (41., Plattenhardt)
                    1:3  Bittencourt (60., Huszti)
                    2:3  M. Diouf (87., Sulejmani)
                    3:3  M. Diouf (90. + 2, Huszti)

1899 Hoffenheim	     -   Borussia Dortmund	2:2 (2:1)   30,150 *

                    1:0  Schipplock (17., Roberto Firmino)
                    2:0  Volland (37., Rudy)
                    2:1  Aubameyang (44., Lewandowski)
                    2:2  Piszczek (67., Sahin)

1. FSV Mainz 05	     -   Bor. Mönchengladbach	0:0 (0:0)   34,000 *

FC Augsburg	     -   Eintracht Braunschweig	4:1 (3:0)   28,010

                    1:0  Verhaegh (23., penalty, To. Werner)
                    2:0  Hahn (30., Ostrzolek)
                    3:0  Hahn (33., To. Werner)
                    3:1  Oehrl (48., Ademi)
                    4:1  Halil Altintop (75., Vogt)

VfL Wolfsburg	     -   VfB Stuttgart	        3:1 (1:0)   25,501

                    1:0  Rodriguez (38., direct freekick)
                    2:0  Diego (53., direct freekick)
                    2:1  Ti. Werner (57., Ibisevic)
                    3:1  Perisic (78.)

FC Schalke 04	     -   SC Freiburg	        2:0 (1:0)   60,661

                    1:0  Höfler (44., own goal, Farfan)
                    2:0  Farfan (67., penalty, M. Meyer)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen  -   Eintracht Frankfurt	0:1 (0:0)   26,242

                    0:1  Russ (61., S. Jung)


 1  Bayern München (M, P)	16   14  2  0 	  42:8 	 +34 	  44
 2  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	16   12  1  3     32:15  +17 	  37
 3  Borussia Dortmund	  	16   10  2  4 	  37:18  +19 	  32
 4  Bor. Mönchengladbach	16   10  2  4 	  33:17  +16 	  32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	16    9  2  5 	  26:17  +9 	  29
 6  FC Schalke 04	  	16    8  3  5 	  32:28  +4 	  27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	16    7  4  5 	  25:19  +6 	  25 
 8  FC Augsburg	  	        16    7  2  7 	  20:24  -4 	  23
 9  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	16    6  3  7 	  22:29  -7 	  21 
10  VfB Stuttgart	  	16    5  4  7 	  29:31  -2 	  19 
11  1899 Hoffenheim	  	16    4  6  6 	  36:37  -1 	  18 
12  Hannover 96	  	        16    5  3  8 	  22:29  -7 	  18 
13  Hamburger SV	  	16    4  4  8 	  31:35  -4 	  16 
14  Werder Bremen	  	16    4  4  8 	  21:37  -16 	  16 
15  Eintracht Frankfurt	        16    3  5  8 	  19:28  -9 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Freiburg	  	        16    2  5  9 	  14:30  -16 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1. FC Nürnberg	  	16    0  10  6 	  17:33  -16 	  10
18 Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	16    2  2  12 	   9:32  -23 	  8


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

3.Liga, Round 20

Not many goals this round – 10 of the clubs failed to score at all, and only 14 total in the net. BUt there were some important results that helped the winners.

Heideneheim was held at Regensburg, and Münster did the same scoreless draw against Leipzig. A good point for the home sides in the tight relegation battle. Rostock helped themselves with a hard 1-0 over Elversberg, thereby defending their hold on 3rd. They needed it, since the clubs chasing them all got tough wins.

The biggest results did come in at the bottom. Stuttgarter Kickers dumped Wehen, who have faded into obscurity after a good start. This tightens things up at the bottom. Last place Burghausen did themselves a favor as well, getting a point at Duisburg. Wacker hasn’t yet lost contact with safety, and they could certainly use a win next week before going into the winterbreak. They’re not dead yet, but it’s getting tight.

The biggest loser was ex-Bundesligist Saarbrücken, who lost a critical home match to promoted Kiel. Holstein had been struggling, and FCS had been riding some good performances after the DFB Cup defeat to Dortmund. The visitors played well and deserved the win, clearly more prepared for the difficult relegation battle.

	
Chemnitzer FC	      -   SpVgg Unterhaching	0:0 (0:0)    3,938
Borussia Dortmund II  -   VfL Osnabrück	        1:2 (0:0)    2,122
SV Darmstadt 98	      -   VfB Stuttgart II	1:0 (1:0)    4,200
Hansa Rostock	      -   SV Elversberg	        1:0 (0:0)    9,500
1. FC Saarbrücken     -   Holstein Kiel	        1:2 (1:1)    3,475
Stuttgarter Kickers   -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	2:0 (2:0)    2,670
Hallescher FC	      -   Rot Weiß Erfurt	0:2 (0:2)    7,335
Preußen Münster	      -   RB Leipzig	        0:0 (0:0)    6,787
MSV Duisburg	      -   Wacker Burghausen	1:1 (0:0)    9,636
Jahn Regensburg	      -   1. FC Heidenheim	0:0 (0:0)    3,100


 1  1. FC Heidenheim	  	20   14  4  2 	  33:11  +22 	  46
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	20   11  4  5 	  32:22  +10 	  37
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Hansa Rostock	  	20   10  4  6 	  25:26  -1 	  34
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SV Darmstadt 98	  	20    9  5  6 	  30:18  +12 	  32 
 5  Rot Weiß Erfurt	  	20   10  2  8 	  32:22  +10 	  32 
 6  VfL Osnabrück	  	20    9  4  7 	  27:22  +5 	  31 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	20    7  7  6 	  25:26  -1 	  28 
 8  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	20    7  7  6 	  28:30  -2 	  28 
 9  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	20    7  6  7 	  25:25   0 	  27 
10  VfB Stuttgart II	  	20    7  5  8 	  25:27  -2 	  26 
11  Borussia Dortmund II	20    7  4  9 	  27:31  -4 	  25 
12  SV Elversberg (N)	  	20    7  4  9 	  17:25  -8 	  25 
13  Preußen Münster	  	20    5  9  6 	  30:29  +1 	  24 
14  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	20    6  6  8 	  25:30  -5 	  24 
15  Hallescher FC	  	20    7  3  10 	  19:24  -5 	  24 
16  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	20    5  8  7 	  22:21  +1 	  23 
17  Chemnitzer FC	  	20    5  8  7 	  22:26  -4 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	20    6  4  10 	  24:26  -2 	  22 
19  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	20    4  7  9 	  24:34  -10 	  19 
20  Wacker Burghausen	  	20    4  5  11 	  20:37  -17 	  17



A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

WSV Blog: Another disgrace!!

Things were beginning to lookup. Wuppertal was getting rolling in the Oberliga and had actually managed to move into first place. But then the wheels fell off with a couple of losses that dropped them back, and then the total disgrace this weekend. Playing at home at Rot-Weiss Oberhausen II…WSV lost 1-6. Yes, 1-6!!! Disgraceful!! And what makes it even worse: just a couple of weeks ago, WSV faced the A squad of Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, who play in the Regionalliga. This was the regional Niederrhein-Pokal, a qualifier for the DFB Cup. And WSV won 3-1!!! So you defeat the A team and then get killed by the scrubs.

Needless to say, WSV fans are quite upset, although the board doesn’t seem too perturbed. According to the plan, after the insolvency and forced relegation, this is simply a building year, and it’s not even clear if promotion is in the budget. By and large, financially things are on course, and attendance hasn’t been bad at all, considering it’s the 5th division and there aren’t any real attractive matchups. (Well, for the other clubs, they usually get a good turnout when WSV shows up). Most fans accept that relegation may not be “on the books”, but certainly expect performance on the field. So the next game or so before winterbreak are pretty important to everybody…

                       OBERLIGA NIEDERRHEIN

 1  SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter	19   12  5  2 	  37:18  +19 	  41
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  FC Kray (A)	  	        19   11  6  2 	  46:25  +21 	  39 
 3  MSV Duisburg II (A)	  	19   11  4  4 	  42:25  +17 	  37 
 4  Wuppertaler SV (A)	  	19   10  6  3 	  36:24  +12 	  36 
 5  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II	19   11  2  6 	  48:29  +19 	  35 
 6  TV Jahn Hiesfeld	  	19    9  7  3 	  32:22  +10 	  34 
 7  TuRU Düsseldorf	  	19    9  4  6 	  42:35  +7 	  31 
 8  VfB Homberg	  	        19    9  4  6 	  33:32  +1 	  31 
 9  Schwarz-Weiß Essen	  	19    8  5  6 	  32:23  +9 	  29 
10  Ratinger SV	  	        19    7  7  5 	  34:25  +9 	  28 
11  VfB Hilden (N)	  	19    8  3  8 	  46:35  +11 	  27 
12  SC Kapellen-Erft	  	19    5  9  5 	  39:27  +12 	  24 
13  SV Sonsbeck	  	        19    6  6  7 	  32:36  -4 	  24 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
14  TuS Bösinghoven	  	18    5  7  6 	  30:34  -4 	  22 
15  Rot-Weiss Essen II (N)	19    5  6  8 	  32:42  -10 	  21 
16  Sportfreunde Baumberg	19    4  5  10 	  30:42  -12 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfB Speldorf	  	19    4  3  12 	  22:41  -19 	  15
18  SV Uedesheim	  	19    3  1  15 	  14:50  -36 	  10 
19  VfL Rhede	  	        18    2  3  13 	  22:45  -23 	  9 
20  PSV Wesel-Lackhausen (N)	19    2  3  14 	  15:54  -39 	  9

2.Liga, Round 17

Köln is the mythical Herbstmeister, but the dogfight at the top remains. Greuther Fürth remains on their tail, as does Kaiserslautern. And a whole slew of clubs are potentially able to pounce if the top three falter.

Köln had some problems with struggling FSV Frankfurt. Mainly, wasting good chances kept the Bornheimers in the game, and although they never really like winning, FSV was giving a good account of themselves. Eventually however Köln broke through and got the deserved win.

Greuther Fürth had trouble with resurgent Sandhausen, but in end were able to get the win and keep pace. However the most important thing was what happened outside the scoreline. With the score 1-1, Greuther Fürth appeared to take the lead, as the referee allowed a goal for the Greuther off a rebound. However the player in question, Florian Trinks, told the referee that the ball had bounced off his hand and should not be counted. A great demonstration of sportsmanship that sadly one hasn’t come to expect. In any case, Fürth continued to apply the pressure and got the win, and Trinks even scored a goal.

The sensation was in Kaiserslautern, as Oliver Reck debuted as new Fortuna Düsseldorf coach. This was expected to be a wipe out, and indeed the hosts dominated and had several huge chances to grab a quick goal. Instead ex-FCK man Erwin Hoffer scored on Düsseldorf’s first shot of the game – which took over half an hour. Lautern ran and continued to beat their head against the Fortuna defense, and so the visitors get an unlikely victory.

St.Pauli’s GK Philip Tschauner stopped an early penalty, and then an efficient display saw Pauli grab all the points in Aue.

A rather dour defensive struggle in Karlsruhe, so KSC and Bochum split a goose-egg and the draw.

Desperate relegation battle in Bielefeld. Arminia got the upper hand against Dresden, but fell asleep and Dynamo stole a point with a late injury time goal.

Ingolstadt seized an opportunity and delivered a kick to the balls of hosts Cottbus. The Stadion der Freundschaft hasn’t been the bulwark that Energie usualy commands, and the Schanzers win here actually rubs the host nose in in. Cottbus is firmly tethered to the bottom, and Ingolstadt has amazingly climbed out of the relegation zone.

Total attendance 129,715 (avg 14,413)

 	
Erzgebirge Aue	      -   FC St. Pauli	        0:2 (0:2)    8,700

                     0:1  Bartels (8., Buchtmann)
                     0:2  Gregoritsch (25., Bartels)

Karlsruher SC	      -   VfL Bochum	        0:0 (0:0)   13,278

Arminia Bielefeld     -   Dynamo Dresden	1:1 (0:0)   14,578

1. FC Köln	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        2:0 (0:0)   43,300

                     1:0  Ujah (54., Risse)
                     2:0  Risse (84., M. Lehmann)

1860 München	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	2:1 (0:0)   18,700

                     1:0  Bülow (64., Stoppelkamp)
                     1:1  Mattuschka (74., penalty, Brandy)
                     2:1  D. Stahl (86., Stoppelkamp)

Energie Cottbus	      -   FC Ingolstadt 04      1:2 (1:1)    7,406

                     0:1  Caiuby (15.)
                     1:1  Banovic (28., Stiepermann)
                     1:2  Mo. Hartmann (77., P. Hofmann)

VfR Aalen	      -   SC Paderborn 07	2:4 (2:2)    4,761

                     0:1  Meha (12., Wurtz)
                     1:1  Klauß (18., Traut)
                     1:2  Sané (39., Meha)
                     2:2  Leandro (42., A. Hofmann)
                     2:3  Wurtz (54., Demme)
                     2:4  Meha (72., direct freekick)

SV Sandhausen	      -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	1:3 (1:1)    4,000

                     1:0  Tüting (16., D. Blum)
                     1:1  Füllkrug (32., Stieber)
                     1:2  Stieber (56., penalty, Zillner)
                     1:3  Trinks (76., Brosinski)

Monday:
1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	0:1 (0:1)   29,570

                     0:1  Hoffer (31., Benschop)
 	


 1  1. FC Köln   	  	17    9  6  2 	  26:7 	 +19 	  33 
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	17   10  2  5 	  33:18  +15 	  32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern	17    8  4  5 	  30:18  +12 	  28
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli	  	17    8  4  5 	  24:21  +3 	  28
 5  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	17    7  6  4 	  21:14  +7 	  27 
 6  1860 München	  	17    8  3  6 	  16:17  -1 	  27 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	17    7  4  6 	  23:24  -1 	  25 
 8  SV Sandhausen	  	17    6  5  6 	  16:17  -1 	  23 
 9  SC Paderborn 07	  	17    6  5  6 	  30:32  -2 	  23 
10  VfL Bochum	  	        17    6  4  7 	  18:16  +2 	  22 
11  VfR Aalen	  	        17    6  4  7 	  18:20  -2 	  22 
12  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	17    6  4  7 	  16:25  -9 	  22
13  Dynamo Dresden	  	17    4  8  5 	  19:26  -7 	  20 
14  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	17    6  2  9 	  17:24  -7 	  20 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	17    6  2  9 	  21:29  -8 	  20 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FSV Frankfurt	  	17    5  4  8 	  22:24  -2 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	17    5  3  9 	  21:31  -10 	  18 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	17    3  4  10 	  20:28  -8 	  13


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

3.Liga, Round 19

The halfway mark in the Dritte Liga, and the official coronation of Heidenheim as Herbstmeister (“Fall Champion”). Of course that is a worthless title, and in fact couple more matches will be played prior to the winter-break. But Heidenheim has been dominant and already has a 14 point lead over 3rd, so barring a monumental collapse, they’re going up. FCH showed their control has they beat up Unterhaching on the road, a club that was thinking about challenging for that 3rd spot. Instead it’s Rostock that has seized it, somewhat of a surprise given Hansa’s horrible start, but the Rostockers have recovered nicely and are moving. Their away win at Wehen is a great result, fully deserved. Leipzig had a tough time but eventually got the points against a battling Stuttgarter Kickers. The RedBulls are trying to establish a gap between themselves and the fierce battle for 3rd

On the bottom, both Saarbrücken and Burghausen came up with wins, and Münster had a huge win against Duisburg to keep their heads above water. FCS win was the most impressive, as they got it on the road at Erfurt, who are battling for the promotion playoff.

Total attendance 39,339 (avg 3,934)

 	
VfB Stuttgart II     -   Chemnitzer FC	        1:1 (1:0)      535
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   1. FC Heidenheim	0:3 (0:2)    1,900
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -   Hansa Rostock	        1:3 (0:1)    3,234
VfL Osnabrück	     -   Jahn Regensburg	1:0 (1:0)    5,534
SV Elversberg	     -   Borussia Dortmund II	0:5 (0:3)      600
Holstein Kiel	     -   SV Darmstadt 98	0:2 (0:1)    3,746
Rot Weiß Erfurt	     -   1. FC Saarbrücken	0:1 (0:1)    4,953
RB Leipzig	     -   Stuttgarter Kickers	2:1 (1:1)    7,021
Wacker Burghausen    -   Hallescher FC	        1:0 (1:0)    1,700
Preußen Münster	     -   MSV Duisburg	        2:1 (0:1)   10,116


 1  1. FC Heidenheim	  	19   14  3  2 	  33:11  +22 	  45 
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	19   11  3  5 	  32:22  +10 	  36
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Hansa Rostock	  	19    9  4  6 	  24:26  -2 	  31
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SV Darmstadt 98	  	19    8  5  6 	  29:18  +11 	  29 
 5  Rot Weiß Erfurt	  	19    9  2  8 	  30:22  +8 	  29 
 6  VfL Osnabrück	  	19    8  4  7 	  25:21  +4 	  28 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	19    7  7  5 	  25:24  +1 	  28 
 8  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	19    7  6  6 	  28:30  -2 	  27 
 9  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	19    7  5  7 	  24:24   0 	  26 
10  VfB Stuttgart II            19    7  5  7 	  25:26  -1 	  26 
11  Borussia Dortmund II	19    7  4  8 	  26:29  -3 	  25 
12  SV Elversberg (N)	  	19    7  4  8 	  17:24  -7 	  25 
13  Hallescher FC	  	19    7  3  9 	  19:22  -3 	  24 
14  Preußen Münster	  	19    5  8  6 	  30:29  +1 	  23 
15  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	19    6  5  8 	  25:30  -5 	  23 
16  Chemnitzer FC	  	19    5  7  7 	  22:26  -4 	  22 
17  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	19    4  8  7 	  20:20   0 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	19    5  4  10 	  22:26  -4 	  19 
19  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	19    4  7  8 	  23:32  -9 	  19 
20  Wacker Burghausen	  	19    4  4  11 	  19:36  -17 	  16


A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga