DFB-Pokal: 2nd Round

A fair amount of interest in the DFB-Cup 2nd round, as there were seven sellouts for the midweek clashes.

Some notable upsets, with 3rd division Bielefeld downing Hertha BSC on penalties, and 2.Liga Aalen upending Hannover. Kickers Offenbach remains a dragon slayer, as the 4th division side eliminated another 2.Liga club, this time Karlsruhe (having already disposed of Ingolstadt). MSV Duisburg came close against Köln, and 4th division Magdeburg ended 2-2 against Leverksuen, only to lose on penalties.

The big favorites, Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund had no problems in their trips to Hamburg, winning easily against their hosts.

In an eastern derby, Aue was almost home with a win, but Leipzig scored in injury time. The Rasenballsportler then proceeded to add a couple more in overtime to get the win.

So from the lower division sides, only Bielefeld, Dresden (3.Liga) and Offenbach (Regionalliga) remain.

 	
Chemnitzer FC	      -   Werder Bremen	        0:2 (0:1)   10,161 *
Arminia Bielefeld     -   Hertha BSC Berlin	4:2 pen     23,098 
Kickers Offenbach     -   Karlsruher SC 	1:0 (0:0)   16,106
VfR Aalen	      -   Hannover 96	        2:0 (1:0)    5,448
Dynamo Dresden	      -   VfL Bochum	        2:1 aet     28,053 *
MSV Duisburg	      -   1. FC Köln	        1:4 pen     30,600 *
1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	2:0 (2:0)   23,111
FC St. Pauli	      -   Borussia Dortmund	0:3 (0:2)   29,063 *
1. FC Magdeburg	      -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	4:5 pen     23,855 *
Würzburger Kickers    -   Eintr. Braunschweig	0:1 (0:0)   11,240 *
1860 München	      -   SC Freiburg	        2:5 (1:1)   18,100
RB Leipzig	      -   Erzgebirge Aue	3:1 aet     28,419
Hamburger SV	      -   Bayern München	1:3 (0:2)   57,000 *
TSG Hoffenheim	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        5:1 (2:0)   11,441
VfL Wolfsburg	      -   1. FC Heidenheim	4:1 (2:1)    7,608
Eintracht Frankfurt   -   Bor. Mönchengladbach	1:2 (0:1)   46,500	


Pairings for the next round:
 	
Bayer 04 Leverkusen    -   1. FC Kaiserslautern
Kickers Offenbach      -   Bor. Mönchengladbach
Bayern München	       -   Eintracht Braunschweig
VfR Aalen	       -   TSG Hoffenheim
RasenBallsport Leipzig -   VfL Wolfsburg
Arminia Bielefeld      -   Werder Bremen
SC Freiburg	       -   1. FC Köln
Dynamo Dresden	       -   Borussia Dortmund

2.Liga, Round 11: Die Schanzer in charge

Last week we asked “Who’s in charge?!” and now the answer: Ingolstadt!! The Schanzer are the anti-thesis of RedBull Leipzig, a small budget side tearing up the league. They’ve already built out a lead to 5 points, and still remain unbeaten. They did face a tough challenge from Heidenheim, as the newcomers are very much like Ingolstadt. It was a tough, rather drab kickabout, but FCI gets the win. You have to consider them a Bundesliga promotion contender, and really are a team of nobodies. The only familiar name for me is perhaps Marvin Matip, who I believe is the brother of Schalke’s Joel Matip. Aside from matip’s 1 cap for Cameroon, other internationals are Aussie Matthew Leckie (15), Austrians Lukas Hinterseer (4) and GK Ramazan Özcan (2)
Hinterseer (41., Linksschuss, Mo. Hartmann), American Alfredo Morales (4) – hardly household names. Not bad for a club only formed about 10 years ago from a fusion of MTV and ESV…Heidenheim showed their usual toughness, expect them to continue to be a thorn in everyone’s side.

Certainly more was expected in the top clash where Kaiserslautern hosted Fortuna Düsseldorf, just like in old bundesliga days. But Fortuna decided just to play defensively, and FCK was given free reign on the field. The hosts attacked, but couldn’t achieve anything. Then Fortuna stunned the crowd with a late counter, and their plan seemed to work. Luckily FCK launched some furious, desperate attacks and were rewarded in injury time. I suppose a draw is a fair result, as Fortuna’s plan worked to perfection, but you really expect more from a leader.

Bochum continues to fall part, 5 straight matches now without a win. This time they lost in Leipzig, although they could have hardly helped when their coach Peter Neururer stated that “Leipzig makes him want to barf” because he didn’t like the RedBull money invasion, since they weren’t a “tradition” club like either VfB or Sachsen (Hey Peter, who are back to “Lok” and “Chemie”, so get your traditions straightened out, hehehe). Anyway, if the insults were expected to be motivators for VfL, it backfired, as they promptly opened with an own-goal and then proceeded to lose. Bochum didn’t play badly, but showed nothing on offense, and the Rasenballsportler were just a bit better, and deserved the win.

Stunning match in Fürth, where the heavily favored Greuther expected to romp against last place FSV Frankfurt. Instead they ran into a veritable Bornheimer hurricane. The ringleader was Vicenzo Grifo. The German-born Italian was unstoppable. After the hosts went in front early, he equalized almost immediately with a direct free kick. He then ran over to celebrate at the Frankfurt bench, and was handed a 10 euro note. Whether he won a bet or this was his salary, I don’t know. In any case, the rest of FSV was suitably impressed with the prospect of some major funds (FSV has by far the tiniest 2.Liga budget) and they went nuts, fiercely attacking their hosts. The stunned Greuthers tried fighting back, but were no match for the rabid Bornheimers, and Grifo proceeded to knock in a couple of others. An amazing win for FSV, getting them off the bottom, and a bitter defeat for the host’s promotion ambitions.

Karlsruhe ripped St.Pauli, completely outplaying their hosts. SCP started brightly, but teh cold shower of KSC goals basically ended the match. The visitors then kicked the ball around until the end when they decided to insult their hosts by banging in a couple more. The Paulistas now fall into a relegation spot with this crap performance, while Karlsruhe breaks their recent unsuccessful run and are back on track.

Union Berlin continues their recovery with a tough win in Aalen. Both sides desperately wanted the points, and it was Soren Brandy who decided the game with a nice scissors-kick-volley to give Union the points. They seem to have stabilized, but even though Aalen has dropped into relegation, they remain a tough opponent.

The battle of the Lions (both 1860 and Braunschweig are known as “Löwen”) was more like a meowing from kitty-kats. Both sides have been horrible all season, and it continued along these lines in the match, where both sides looked lame. Obviously things went a bit better for Eintracht, who got their first road victory in over a year. I think they still have some bite, but they lack the will power that they showed last season (despite their Bundesliga relegation)

An alternate headline could have been “Der Club gets biatch-slapped!!!”, because thats basically what happened on Montagnachtfussball. Darmstadt was all over Nürnberg like white on rice. Well, actually FCN controlled most of the game, basically because the 98ers wanted to rely on counters. They launched them whenever they felt like scoring a goal, and der Club bumbled around aimlessly the rest of the time. The result was an emphatic Darmstadt win, perhaps their biggest win since the 1982 Bundesliga season. (Well, their biggest recent win was a couple years ago when Kickers Offenbach’s bookkeepers were shown the red card by the DFB Finance committee). Nürnberg looks pretty confused, as their mini-revival comes to a screaching halt.

Total attendance 159,767 (avg 17,752), sellout in Darmstadt

 	
SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   FSV Frankfurt	        2:5 (2:3)    9,805

                     1:0  Sukalo (10., Weilandt)
                     1:1  Grifo (15., direct freekick)
                     1:2  Beugelsdijk (21., M. Engels)
                     2:2  Sukalo (30., Gießelmann)
                     2:3  Grifo (33., M. Engels)
                     2:4  Dedic (59., Huber)
                     2:5  Grifo (88., penalty, Grifo)

VfR Aalen	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	1:2 (1:0)    5,435

                     1:0  Hainault (39., Mockenhaupt)
                     1:1  Leistner (62., Köhler)
                     1:2  Brandy (70., M. Thiel)

RB Leipzig	      -   VfL Bochum	        2:0 (2:0)   30,194

                     1:0  Holthaus (7., own goal, D. Kaiser)
                     2:0  Frahn (33.)

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:1 (0:0)   36,282

                     0:1  Pohjanpalo (77., Liendl)
                     1:1  Gaus (90. + 2, Löwe)

FC St. Pauli	      -   Karlsruher SC	        0:4 (0:2)   28,029

                     0:1  Yamada (18., Kempe)
                     0:2  Hennings (31., Kempe)
                     0:3  Alibaz (80., Hennings)
                     0:4  Yamada (89.)

1860 München	      -   Eintr. Braunschweig	1:2 (1:1)   20,300

                     0:1  Zuck (18., Hedenstad)
                     1:1  Schindler (38., Adlung)
                     1:2  R. Korte (49.)

FC Ingolstadt 04      -   1. FC Heidenheim	1:0 (1:0)    9,156

                     1:0  Hinterseer (41., Mo. Hartmann)

SV Sandhausen	      -   Erzgebirge Aue	1:1 (0:0)    4,066

                     0:1  Kortzorg (57., Löning)
                     1:1  F. Hübner (64., Paqarada)

SV Darmstadt 98	      -   1. FC Nürnberg	3:0 (1:0)   16,500 *

                     1:0  Stroh-Engel (39., Heller)
                     2:0  Balogun (70., Kempe)
                     3:0  Kempe (82., Gondorf)
			 


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	11    7  4  0 	  18:6 	 +12 	  25 
 2  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	11    5  5  1 	  20:12  +8 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	11    5  4  2 	  16:8 	 +8 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	11    5  4  2 	  18:11  +7 	  19
 4  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	11    5  4  2 	  17:13  +4 	  19 
 5  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	11    4  4  3 	  20:14  +6 	  16 
 6  Karlsruher SC 	  	11    4  4  3 	  15:10  +5 	  16 
 8  VfL Bochum 	  	        11    3  6  2 	  18:16  +2 	  15 
 9  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	11    4  3  4 	  18:16  +2 	  15 
10  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	11    4  2  5 	  16:15  +1 	  14 
11  1. FC Union Berlin	  	11    3  4  4 	  11:17  -6 	  13 		
12  1. FC Nürnberg (A)	  	11    4  1  6 	  11:20  -9 	  13 
13  FSV Frankfurt 	  	11    3  2  6 	  16:21  -5 	  11 
14  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	11    3  2  6 	  11:17  -6 	  11 
15  SV Sandhausen 	  	11    3  2  6 	   8:16  -8 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC St. Pauli 	  	11    3  2  6 	  11:20  -9 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfR Aalen 	  	        11    2  4  5 	   9:13  -4 	  10 
18  1860 München 	  	11    2  3  6 	  12:20  -8 	  9


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

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

3.Liga, Round 15: Arminia’s turn

It’s Arminia Bielefeld’s turn to be at the top of the ultra-competitive Dritte Liga. Only 3 points separates the leaders from 10th place, as everyone is jockeying for position.

Bielefeld opened up quickly in the top clash with Erfurt, and basically decided the match. RWE was never really able to get back in, and Arminia coasted to victory. This turned out to be enough to grab first, as Wehen went down in flames at Halle, who have struggled mightily at home. But here it was HFC dominating the match, and Wehen really never got started.

No goals in the clash between Duisburg and Dresden. The visitors can complain though. After the Zebras went down a man, Dynamo took control in the 2nd half, and had a legit goal called back.

Fortuna Köln had Preußen Münster on the ropes, but a late goal salvaged a point for the visitors.

Mainz hosted a huge relegation six-pointer against Regensburg, and their victory gives them a bit of breathing room, whole keeping Jahn formly rooted to the foot of the table.

 	
Fortuna Köln	     -   Preußen Münster	1:1 (1:0)    3,705
Arminia Bielefeld    -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	3:0 (2:0)   11,710
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   VfB Stuttgart II	0:1 (0:0)    1,750
Stuttgarter Kickers  -   Energie Cottbus	2:2 (0:1)    3,925
MSV Duisburg	     -   Dynamo Dresden	        0:0 (0:0)   13,720
Chemnitzer FC	     -   Holstein Kiel	        0:0 (0:0)    5,830
Hallescher FC	     -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	3:1 (1:0)    5,483
VfL Osnabrück	     -   SG S-hof Großaspach	2:0 (1:0)    7,300
1. FSV Mainz 05 II   -   Jahn Regensburg	1:0 (0:0)      668
Borussia Dortmund II -   Hansa Rostock	        1:1 (1:0)    3,110


 1  Arminia Bielefeld (A) 	15    8  3  4 	  31:21  +10 	  27 
 2  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	15    8  2  5 	  26:19  +7 	  26
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Dynamo Dresden (A)	  	15    7  5  3 	  22:17  +5 	  26
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Chemnitzer FC 	  	15    7  4  4 	  15:8 	 +7 	  25 
 5  Stuttgarter Kickers 	15    7  4  4 	  26:20  +6 	  25 
 6  MSV Duisburg 	  	15    6  7  2 	  21:15  +6 	  25 
 7  Preußen Münster 	  	15    7  4  4 	  24:20  +4 	  25 
 8  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	15    7  4  4 	  22:19  +3 	  25 
 9  Energie Cottbus (A) 	15    6  6  3 	  17:13  +4 	  24 
10  VfL Osnabrück 	  	15    7  3  5 	  23:23   0 	  24 
11  Holstein Kiel 	  	15    5  6  4 	  19:13  +6 	  21 
12  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	15    6  3  6 	  21:23  -2 	  21 
13  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	15    5  3  7 	  16:16   0 	  18 
14  Hallescher FC 	  	15    5  3  7 	  19:21  -2 	  18 
15  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	15    4  4  7 	  19:23  -4 	  16 
16  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	15    4  4  7 	  22:27  -5 	  16 
17  Hansa Rostock 	  	15    3  4  8 	  20:29  -9 	  13
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II 	15    2  6  7 	  16:24  -8 	  12 
19  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 15    2  5  8 	  15:29  -14 	  11 		
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	15    3  2  10 	  15:29  -14 	  11

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

BUNDESLIGA, Round 9: Dortmund in crisis

Some interesting games this round, following some decent European action midweek. Crap teams are generally continuing to be crap, but a few sides are beginning to get noticed.

Dortmund is in crisis. The team that has been dominant in the Champions League (a midweek 4-0 thrashing in Istanbul over Turkish giant Galatasary good evidence) is flailing in the Bundesliga. Against Hannover, things again dodn’t go right. Despite a ton of chances, BVB was unable to score. The 96ers didn’t create much, but a direct free kick by Hiroshi Kiyotake gave them a stunning win. This is already 6 losses for Dortmund (in the last 4 years, they’ve only lost 7,6,5 and 3 matches the whole season). What are they going to do? It doesn’t appear that injuries is the main excuse any more, as players are coming back. It just seems like lack of focus. Hannover hardly deserved the win, but they came with a plan to escape with a draw and then take whatever they were given. A nice win for the 96ers, but really Dortmund needs to look into the mirror to figure out why.

Bayern München made massive news in the Champions League, as they came away with a legendary 7-1 win at AS Roma. Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola said his side could play better. Well, they needed it at Gladbach. The hosts showed no fear against the champs, and came close to victory in the latter stages. Only some fine saves by Bayern GK Manuel Neuer held the draw. Still, it could have been the usual Bayern script, as they completely controlled the match early on and piled up decent chances. Gladbach didn’t panic and held firm, until their strong effort down the stretch. They clearly deserved a point and demonstrated that they’re the top contender for 2nd place…

Wolfsburg is officially a “contender” (for 2nd place). The VWs have quietly moved up the table, and now showed their strength as the bitch-slapped unbeaten Mainz all over the field. The visitors were only able to keep pace at the start, and when they fell behind, they were simply outplayed and overrun. Mainz was clearly shown their limits, but have a decent squad and should be able to ride home strength to decent results

Huge match in Bremen, with Werder desperately needing a result against Köln. The signs were good, as they’ve beaten Köln nine of the last ten times at home. But this was not to be, as the visitors stood firm and let Bremen run around aimlessly. Then they delivered a deadly counter and ended up with the win. This was the end of the line for coach Robin Dutt, who was fired the next day. U23 coach Viktor Skripnik takes over as interim boss. With Werder dead last and still without a win, he certainly has his work cut out. For Köln, this is a nice win that establishes them neatly in mid-table.

Leverkusen completely dominated against Schalke, which was attempting a catenaccio point robbery. The Blues looked completely lame going forward, and you have to wonder what Roberto di Matteo was thinking with this plan. It’s pretty clear that RDM hasn’t figured out what he is going to do with this side. The Aspirins wasted quite a few chances, but a direct free kick from Hakan Calhanoglu (I bet HSV could use him now) was enough to get the win. Leverksuen looks once again to be a potential challenger for the “Vize” spot.

Augsburg has survived by playing hard and getting results at home. There’s little reason to doubt that they won’t do the same this season. FCA was completely in control against Freiburg, who really couldn’t mount much of anything. SCF looked pretty week, ready to get relegated.

Hoffenheim was dominant against Paderborn, but wasted lots of chances. The Hoppers did finally break through, but it was never easy sailing. The guests might have escaped with a draw late, but luck wasn’t on their side. Overall, Hoffenheim deserved the win, and they remain a surprise unbeaten side. Paderborn exhibited good fight. They’re very much like Augsburg in their first season, so as long as they keep plugging away and collect points at home, they’re in good shape.

Hertha was completely in control against a lame Hamburg side. HSV has been showing some fight, but they were crap here, perhpas a sign that the coach firing effect is wearing off. Berlin was a bit cautious in the first half, but then when they really started to pressure, the guests cracked and Hertha skated to an easy win. Berlin looks capable of more, but they seem a bit tentative. For HSV, the next few matches are crucial, because they are dangerously looking like falling into their earlier sucky pattern.

An insane match in Frankfurt. Stuttgart looked to have things in firm control, jumping to a 3-1 lead, and looking the better side. But Eintracht came roaring back to take the lead, before VfB turned thing in their favor in the end-spurt. Overall, VfB seemed slightly better, but Frankfurt will certainly feel hard done by that they didn’t manage a point after seizing the lead. Stuttgart had been looking like a prime relegation candidate, but they showed that they have plenty of will and skill to pull themselves out. With other teams sucking in the drop zone, they could soon find themselves in safety with a few more solid performances.

Total attendance 395,729 (avg 43,970), sellouts in Bremen, Dortmund, Leverkusen and Gladbach.

 	
Werder Bremen	     -   1. FC Köln	   0:1 (0:0)   42,100 *

                    0:1  Ujah (59., Svento)

Borussia Dortmund    -   Hannover 96	   0:1 (0:0)   80,667 *

                    0:1  Kiyotake (62., direct free kick)

FC Augsburg	     -   SC Freiburg	   2:0 (1:0)   28,324

                    1:0  Verhaegh (11., penalty, Klavan)
                    2:0  Halil Altintop (66., Esswein)

TSG Hoffenheim	     -   SC Paderborn 07   1:0 (0:0)   25,712

                    1:0  Volland (73., Beck)

Hertha BSC	     -   Hamburger SV	   3:0 (0:0)   58,768

                    1:0  Ben-Hatira (59., Stocker)
                    2:0  Heitinga (65., Hosogai)
                    3:0  Ben-Hatira (85., Skjelbred)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -   VfB Stuttgart	   4:5 (1:2)   49,700

                    1:0  Madlung (21., Seferovic)
                    1:1  Harnik (34.)
                    1:2  Harnik (36., Maxim)
                    1:3  Gentner (51., Maxim)
                    2:3  Meier (57., Aigner)
                    3:3  Aigner (61., Russ)
                    4:3  Madlung (65., Stendera)
                    4:4  Ti. Werner (81.)
                    4:5  Gentner (84., Kostic)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen  -   FC Schalke 04	   1:0 (0:0)   30,210 *

                    1:0  Calhanoglu (53., direct freekick)
 
VfL Wolfsburg	     -   1. FSV Mainz 05   3:0 (1:0)   26,238

                    1:0  Naldo (15., M. Schäfer)
                    2:0  Perisic (59., Naldo)
                    3:0  D. Caligiuri (87., Junior Malanda)

Bor. Mönchengladbach -   Bayern München	   0:0 (0:0)   54,010 *
	


 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	9    6 	3  0 	  21:2 	 +19 	  21 
 2  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	9    4 	5  0 	  12:4 	 +8 	  17 
 3  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	9    5 	2  2 	  16:9 	 +7 	  17
 4  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	9    4 	5  0 	  13:7 	 +6 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	9    4 	4  1 	  17:14  +3 	  16 
 6  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	9    3 	5  1 	  12:10  +2 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hannover 96 	  	9    4 	1  4 	   6:11  -5 	  13 
 8  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	9    3 	3  3 	  13:12  +1 	  12 
 9  FC Augsburg 	  	9    4 	0  5 	  11:11   0 	  12 
10  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	9    3 	3  3 	   7:7 	  0 	  12 
11  Eintracht Frankfurt 	9    3 	3  3 	  17:18  -1 	  12 
12  FC Schalke 04 	  	9    3 	2  4 	  13:13   0 	  11 
13  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	9    3 	2  4 	  14:16  -2 	  11 
14  VfB Stuttgart 	  	9    2 	3  4 	  14:19  -5 	  9 
15  Borussia Dortmund 	  	9    2 	1  6 	  10:15  -5 	  7
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hamburger SV 	  	9    1 	3  5 	   3:12  -9 	  6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg 	  	9    0 	5  4 	   8:14  -6 	  5 
18  Werder Bremen 	  	9    0 	4  5 	  10:23  -13 	  4

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

M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokalsieger, Cup winner
N = Neuling, just promoted

2.Liga, Round 10: Who’s in charge?!

Unlike the Bundesliga, the 2.Liga doesn’t have a clear view of who is going to be top. In fact, it’s really anybody’s game. Right now, you’d have to say the most impressive side is an unlikely one: Ingolstadt. The Schanzer may turn out to be this year’s Paderborn. They remain the only unbeaten side, and top the table. FCI won at FSV Frankfurt in a rather drab encounter, but it was also significant. Ingolstadt has quietly set a new 2.Liga record: 18 straight matches undefeated – on the road.

Heidenheim and Kaiserslautern delivered an up-tempo fighting match. FCH is no pushover in their first 2nd division appearance, and FCK has to be considered one of the favorites for promotion.

Bochum struggled to make headway against Darmstadt, and despite constant pressure, they looked like they were going down. A goal deep in injury time saved them. The scorer was Finnish international Mikael Forssell, who has bounced around quite a bit, always looking overmatched, and then moving to another club where he looks fantastic. (Helsinki-Chelsea-Crystal Palace-Chelsea-Gladbach-Chelsea-Birmingham-Chelsea-Birmingham-Hannover-Leeds-Helsinki-Bochum…)

Nürnberg has struggled mightily, but their win over Leipzig at least shows that they appear to have turned the corner and will be able to grind out some results.

Don’t look now but 1860 sucks. Their fans used to boast that they were the no.1 club among München city dwellers, but that’s clearly not the case anymore. And if they’re looking for a München derby, it looks more likely against Unterhaching than bayern. They stunk again and got rolled in Aue and now find themselves in a relegation spot.

Düsseldorf has quietly moved up and now find themselves 2nd. Fortuna had their hands full with St.Pauli, but managed to pull through.

Total attendance 162,584 (avg 18,065), sellout in Heidenheim.

 	
VfL Bochum	       -   SV Darmstadt 98	1:1 (0:1)   19,618
 
                      0:1  Bregerie (10., Heller)
                      1:1  Forssell (90. + 5, Luthe)

1. FC Heidenheim       -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	1:1 (0:0)   13,000 *

                      0:1  Younes (77., Gaus)
                      1:1  Schnatterer (79., Janzer)

1. FC Nürnberg	       -   RB Leipzig	        1:0 (0:0)   28,751

                      1:0  Schöpf (74., Füllkrug)

Eintracht Braunschweig -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	2:2 (0:0)   21,200

                      0:1  Stiepermann (59., K. Przybylko)
                      0:2  K. Przybylko (68., Stiepermann)
                      1:2  Kessel (72., R. Korte)
                      2:2  Kessel (90. + 3, Reichel)
 
1. FC Union Berlin     -   SV Sandhausen	3:1 (0:1)   17,106

                      0:1  Olajengbesi (24., Paqarada)
                      1:1  Polter (52., Brandy)
                      2:1  Brandy (59., Köhler)
                      3:1  Polter (80., M. Thiel)

Karlsruher SC	       -   VfR Aalen            0:0 (0:0)   12,494

FSV Frankfurt	       -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:1 (0:1)    4,160

                      0:1  Hinterseer (19., Danilo)

Erzgebirge Aue	       -   1860 München	        4:1 (3:0)   10,000

                      1:0  Klingbeil (2., Kortzorg)
                      2:0  Novikovas (8., Löning)
                      3:0  Kortzorg (15., Schönfeld)
                      3:1  Rama (51., Claasen)
                      4:1  Benatelli (74., Kortzorg)

Fortuna Düsseldorf     -   FC St. Pauli	        1:0 (1:0)   36,255

                      1:0  Liendl (32., Schmitz)



 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	10    6  4  0 	  17:6 	 +11 	  22 
 2  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	10    5  4  1 	  19:11  +8 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	10    5  3  2 	  16:12  +4 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	10    4  4  2 	  20:13  +7 	  16 
 5  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	10    4  4  2 	  14:8 	 +6 	  16 
 6  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	10    4  4  2 	  15:11  +4 	  16 
 7  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	10    4  3  3 	  16:11  +5 	  15 
 8  VfL Bochum 	  	        10    3  6  1 	  18:14  +4 	  15 
 9  Karlsruher SC 	  	10    3  4  3 	  11:10  +1 	  13 
10  1. FC Nürnberg (A)	  	10    4  1  5 	  11:17  -6 	  13 
11  Eintracht Braunschweig (A)	10    3  2  5 	  14:14   0 	  11 
12  FC St. Pauli 	  	10    3  2  5 	  11:16  -5 	  11 
13  VfR Aalen 	  	        10    2  4  4 	   8:11  -3 	  10 
14  Erzgebirge Aue	  	10    3  1  6 	  10:16  -6 	  10 
15  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	10    2  4  4 	   9:16  -7 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SV Sandhausen 	  	10    3  1  6 	   7:15  -8 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1860 München 	  	10    2  3  5 	  11:18  -7 	  9 
18  FSV Frankfurt 	  	10    2  2  6 	  11:19  -8 	  8


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

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

3.Liga, Round 14: Bad day for the leaders

It was not a good day for the leading squads, as they almost all suffered defeats or crappy results. And with the packed table, it means that Erfurt has joined in the hunt by virtue of their win. RWE faced Chemnitz in one of the many regional derbies, and deservedly move up.

Wehen stays on top, despite laying an egg in a regional clash with Mainz-II. Lucky for them, other leaders got owned as well. The Westfalen derby between Münster and Bielefeld ended with a clear win for Preussen, who have moved into contention. Cottbus proceeded to knock off Duisburg to re-join the chase, and the Zebras are quite hard to beat, which makes Energie’s effort more impressive. Another mini-derby in Stuttgart saw VfB-II biatch-slap the Kickers, an embarrassing defeat for SK, who had been a surprise leader at one point.

Dresden had another big crowd, but were unable to get a win against Fortuna Köln, who seem to be adapting a bit more. On the bottom, Regensburg got a needed win to regain connection with the rest of the table.

Another significant result was Kiel overrunning Halle, who looked nothing like the road warrior squad that had been doing well away from home. The Holsteiners are solidly mid-table, but with some decent results could jump into contention as well.

VfB Stuttgart II     - 	Stuttgarter Kickers    5:1 (2:1)    2,200
Hansa Rostock        - 	SpVgg Unterhaching     2:2 (0:1)    6,500
Borussia Dortmund II - 	VfL Osnabrück          2:2 (0:1)    2,519
Jahn Regensburg      - 	SG Sonnenhof G-aspach  2:0 (1:0)    2,723
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   - 	1. FSV Mainz 05 II     1:2 (0:2)    3,476
Holstein Kiel        - 	Hallescher FC          3:0 (2:0)    4,611
Rot-Weiß Erfurt      - 	Chemnitzer FC          2:0 (1:0)    7,493
Dynamo Dresden       - 	Fortuna Köln           0:0 (0:0)   23,811
Energie Cottbus      - 	MSV Duisburg           2:0 (0:0)    7,866
Preußen Münster      - 	Arminia Bielefeld      3:1 (0:1)   14,300


 1  SV Wehen Wiesbaden  	14   8	2  4	 25:16	+9	 26 
 2  Rot-Weiß Erfurt  	        14   7	4  3	 22:16	+6	 25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Dynamo Dresden (A)  	14   7	4  3	 22:17	+5	 25
-------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Arminia Bielefeld (A)  	14   7	3  4	 28:21	+7	 24
 5  Chemnitzer FC  	        14   7	3  4	 15:8	+7	 24 
 6  Stuttgarter Kickers  	14   7	3  4	 24:18	+6	 24 
 7  MSV Duisburg  	        14   6	6  2	 21:15	+6	 24 
 8  Preußen Münster             14   7	3  4	 23:19	+4	 24 
 9  Energie Cottbus (A)  	14   6	5  3	 15:11	+4	 23 
10  VfL Osnabrück  	        14   6	3  5	 21:23	-2	 21 
11  Holstein Kiel  	        14   5	5  4	 19:13	+6	 20 
12  VfB Stuttgart II  	        14   5	3  6	 20:23	-3	 18 
13  Fortuna Köln (N)  	        14   5	2  7	 15:15	 0	 17 
14  SpVgg Unterhaching  	14   4	4  6	 22:26	-4	 16 
15  Hallescher FC 	        14   4	3  7	 16:20	-4	 15 
16  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N)  	14   3	4  7	 18:23	-5	 13 
17  Hansa Rostock  	        14   3	3  8	 19:28	-9	 12
-------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II 	14   2	5  7	 15:23	-8	 11 
19  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 14   2	5  7	 15:27	-12	 11 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	        14   3	2  9	 15:28	-13	 11


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

BUNDESLIGA, Round 8:

The Bundesliga was back after the hangover of European qualifiers, in which Germany did quite poorly. They started with the first loss *ever* against Poland, although basically they had more than enough chances to win the game easily. Still the Poles took their few chances and get the historic victory. Then another horrible result against the Republic of Ireland, giving up a tie in the last minute. Under normal circumstances, you might expect the press to be at fever pitch, but clearly as World Champions, Joggi Löw is going to get quite a bit of slack. I mean, would you rather have wins in ho-hum qualifiers or win the WorldCup? Still, it’s clear that the DFB squad is going to need some re-focus and rebuilding.

Turning back to the Bundesliga, I’m not sure you can draw too many conslusions just yet. Aside of course that bayern is going to defend their title easily (although most probably would have said so even before any matches were played). But the matches seem to going as predicted, at least as far as teh champions are concerned: A walk in the park in München as Bayern ripped hapless Bremen to shreds. Luckily the hosts took their foot off the gas in the 2nd period, otherwise it could have easily been double digits. Werder was shockingly horrible, and desperately need to do something quickly before the situation becomes hopeless.

Perhaps Gladbach is one team that might at least “challenge”, i.e. become runner up. They traveled to Hannover for a big match, and did quite well. The 96ers ran around a lot, but Borussia was clinical and beat them silly. MG remains unbeaten, and looks like they could contend for 2nd place.

Leverkusen looks like a challenger, but only part time. The Aspirins showed why they will always fail when it counts. They built up a huge lead at Stuttgart, and in fact could have easily inflicted a record loss on their hosts. But then in the 2nd half, they evidently forgot how to play football, and Stuttgart came roaring back. Overall, it was a fair result, but obviously much better for VfB, since they showed they still have some bite.

Mainz continues as a surprise unbeaten side. They defeated Augsburg in a tough match. The hosts jumped out early, and although Augsburg had sustained pressure, they only got back into the match too late.

Hoffenheim also has quietly remained unbeaten. The Hoppers faced a stiff challenge at Hamburg, as HSV under Zinnbauer at least shows fight in every match now. The hosts pressed hard, but Hoffenheim was up to the challenge and come away with a fair point. It’s a bit of a surprise they’re unbeaten, but they seem solid, if not impressive. HSV basically needs to solve their goal scoring (or rather “lack of…”) problem. If they can do that, they actually seem to be in better shape than the lucky escapee from last season.

Köln got a huge victory against Dortmund. The hosts were clearly technically inferior, but made it up with a lot of effort. BVB is clearly a squad in crisis, and probably shouldn’t have lost this one – but they found a way to lose. This time veteran GK Roman Weidenfeller basically just missed a lazy cross into the box and a surprised Simon Zoller tapped into the empty net for the winner. For Dortmund, the real highpoint was the return of Ilkay Gündogan after his long injury layoff, and he had a promising match. Still, Jürgen Klopp has a lot of work to do to get BVB straightened out. For Köln, every point is precious, so they’ve got to be pretty happy.

Schalke could perhaps make a run at things. They got off to a poor start and finally canned Jens Keller, so this was Roberto Di Matteo’s debut. He was probably happy with the win, and a solid defensive effort. He can’t be too happy about his midfield though, as it was Hertha that controlled most of the match. A fortunate second goal gave Schalke to edge to withstand, and Berlin was unable to come back. So can Schalke make a run? If RDM can sort things out in midfield perhaps. And of course the defense will have to continue their recent improvement. Berlin isn’t very far above the relegation zone, but Hertha looks like they have enough skill to float above.

Paderborn is back to their surprisingly good start. The match with Frankfurt was a snoozer, but then the guests made the mistake of taking the lead :). This seemed to galvanzie SCP, and they ran around leaving Eintracht in the dust. They might have been slightly fortunate, but the visitors defense was full of holes, and they got owned. Great win for SCP, who have certainly given indication that they might be able to stay up. Frankfurt could have become “a team to watch” if they had won, but I guess now you can continue to ignore them.

Perhaps Wolfsburg is going to grow into a “watchable team”. They won at struggling Freiburg on a double by ex-Freiburger Daniel Caligiuri. They’ll need to notch up a few more wins before they can be taken seriously. SCF is certainly in trouble, having yet to register a win, so something else that they have in common with the other great suckitude this season, Werder Bremen.

Total attendance 388,063 (avg 43,118), sellouts in München, Hannover, Köln, Schalke and Paderborn

 	
Bayern München	  -   Werder Bremen	     6:0 (4:0)   71,000 *

                 1:0  Lahm (20., T. Müller)
                 2:0  Xabi Alonso (27., direct free kick)
                 3:0  T. Müller (43., penalty, T. Müller)
                 4:0  M. Götze (45., Alaba)
                 5:0  Lahm (79., Shaqiri)
                 6:0  M. Götze (86.)

1. FSV Mainz 05	  -   FC Augsburg	     2:1 (2:0)   27,687

                 1:0  Hofmann (20.)
                 2:0  Jairo (23.)
                 2:1  To. Werner (78., Baba)

Hannover 96	  -   Bor. Mönchengladbach   0:3 (0:1)   49,000 *

                 0:1  M. Kruse (14., Alvaro Dominguez)
                 0:2  G. Xhaka (49., direct free kick)
                 0:3  M. Kruse (90., Hazard)

SC Freiburg	  -   VfL Wolfsburg	     1:2 (0:1)   23,500

                 0:1  D. Caligiuri (8., De Bruyne)
                 0:2  D. Caligiuri (66., De Bruyne)
                 1:2  Kerk (90. + 1)

VfB Stuttgart	  -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen    3:3 (0:3)   40,900

                 0:1  Son (4.)
                 0:2  Son (9.)
                 0:3  Bellarabi (41., Son)
                 1:3  Ti. Werner (57., Klein)
                 2:3  Klein (67.)
                 3:3  Harnik (76., Kostic)

1. FC Köln	  -   Borussia Dortmund	     2:1 (1:0)   50,000 *

                 1:0  Vogt (40., Risse)
                 1:1  Immobile (48., Reus)
                 2:1  Zoller (74., Osako)

FC Schalke 04	  -   Hertha BSC	     2:0 (1:0)   61,973 *

                 1:0  Huntelaar (19., Draxler)
                 2:0  Draxler (65.)

Hamburger SV	  -   TSG Hoffenheim	     1:1 (1:1)   49,003

                 0:1  Modeste (15., Schwegler)
                 1:1  Lasogga (34., Arslan)

SC Paderborn 07	  -   Eintracht Frankfurt    3:1 (0:0)   15,000 *

                 0:1  Meier (57., Inui)
                 1:1  Ducksch (66., Kutschke)
                 2:1  Hünemeier (79., Vrancic)
                 3:1  Kutschke (85., Koc)
	


 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	8    6 	2  0 	 21:2 	+19 	  20 
 2  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	8    4 	4  0 	 12:4 	+8 	  16 
 3  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	8    3 	5  0 	 12:7 	+5 	  14		
 4  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	8    3 	5  0 	 12:7 	+5 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	8    4 	2  2 	 13:9 	+4 	  14 
 6  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	8    3 	4  1 	 16:14 	+2 	  13
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	8    3 	3  2 	 13:11 	+2 	  12 
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	8    3 	3  2 	 13:13 	 0 	  12 
 9  FC Schalke 04 	  	8    3 	2  3 	 13:12 	+1 	  11 
10  Hannover 96 	  	8    3 	1  4 	  5:11 	-6 	  10 
11  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	8    2 	3  3 	  6:7 	-1 	  9 
12  FC Augsburg 	  	8    3 	0  5 	  9:11 	-2 	  9 
13  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	8    2 	2  4 	 11:16 	-5 	  8 
14  Borussia Dortmund 	  	8    2 	1  5 	 10:14 	-4 	  7 
15  VfB Stuttgart 	  	8    1 	3  4 	  9:15 	-6 	  6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hamburger SV 	  	8    1 	3  4 	  3:9 	-6 	  6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg 	  	8    0 	5  3 	  8:12 	-4 	  5 
18  Werder Bremen 	  	8    0 	4  4     10:22 	-12 	  4


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

M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokalsieger, Cup winner
N = Neuling, just promoted

WSV Blog: Things getting better?

It has been a good run recently for WSV in the Oberliga.

The squad was going OK, but was not overly impressive. Other clubs were getting to a fast start, and WSV was shaky at times. Then came the real disaster as they totally sucked in a loss at TuRU Düsseldorf – a club that was near bottom of the table.

Things looked like they were headed to a horrible season, but then WSV managed to get things together.

After a win against MSV Duisburg-II, WSV travelled to Krefeld to play in the famous Grtenburg-Stadion against the newcomers VfB Krefeld-Fischeln. Although they were a newly promoted side, Krefeld had been doing quite well, winning all previous eight matches and leading the league. Wuppertal played a fine match, and ended up winning 3-0

For some highlights (German only), WSV-TV at Krefeld-Fischeln

Wuppertaler SV – SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter 5:1

This was an other important match. Last season, the Hönnies were the runaway winners of the Oberliga. They were entitled to promotion into the Regionalliga, but declined due to budgetary limitations. They did biatch-slap WSV on both occasions, the Zoo Stadion a 1-5 debacle. So the fact that WSV turned the tables this time is quite a positive development. A pair of goals from Marvin Ellmann and Dennis Schmidt started the rout, with some 2,000+ in attendance.

Highlights:
WSV-TV against Hönnepel-Niedermörmter

Finally, during this period there was some financial success. Two years ago, WSV had club elections that brought in a new board to get rid of the old leaders that had saddled the club with debt and basically run into the ground. The new board brought the club into insolvency state, and accepted obligatory relegation into the 5th division Oberliga Niederrhein, the lowest point in WSV history. The 1st season was difficult, but at least financially things were quickly turning around. Now officially the club is coming out of insolvency, and can think about moving forward…

Things in the 5th division Oberliga Niederrhein are at least palatable for WSV, given the last coupke of good results. It is pretty tough, because you have to win the title outright to get promoted into the Regionalliga West. And of course depending on who gets relegated from the higher league, 15th and 16th place are not necessarily secure.

The early surprise is of course Krefeld-Fischeln, the unknown cousin of Krefeld’s most famous side, KFC Uerdingen. They had just come up, and are already kicking ass, although WSV have them a “What’s up?!” as mentioned above. Bocholt is also a bit of a surprise, having just got promoted as well. Others that could be a threat are of course the defending champs, Hönnepel-Niedermörmter and the relegated Velbert side. Velbert is run by ex-WSV boss Friedhelm Runge, largely responsible for WSV’s current mess. Of course, WSV did rip them 4-0 away early this season to get things going. So already early on, Wuppertal has established themselves, having beaten 1st, 4th,5th and 6th…

 1  VfR Krefeld-Fischeln (N)	9    8 	0  1 	 19:7 	+12 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 2  1. FC Bocholt (N) 	  	9    6 	2  1 	 21:6 	+15 	  20 
 3  Wuppertaler SV 	  	9    6 	2  1 	 23:9 	+14 	  20 
 4  MSV Duisburg II 	  	9    6 	0  3 	 23:9 	+14 	  18 
 5  SSVg Velbert (A) 	  	9    6 	0  3 	 22:13 	+9 	  18 
 6  SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter 	9    5 	2  2 	 18:12 	+6 	  17 
 7  Ratinger SV 	  	9    5 	1  3 	 20:13 	+7 	  16 
 8  VfB Hilden 	  	        9    5 	1  3 	 24:20 	+4 	  16 
 9  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II 	9    5 	0  4 	 17:14 	+3 	  15 
10  TuS Bösinghoven 	  	9    3 	2  4 	 18:19 	-1 	  11 
11  TV Jahn Hiesfeld 	  	9    3 	2  4 	 16:20 	-4 	  11 
12  TuRU Düsseldorf 	  	9    3 	1  5 	  9:14 	-5 	  10 
13  Vdsf Nievenheim (N) 	9    3 	1  5 	 13:27 	-14 	  10 
14  SC Kapellen-Erft 	  	9    3 	0  6 	 15:20 	-5 	  9 
15  Sportfreunde Baumberg 	9    2 	1  6 	  7:22 	-15 	  7 
16  Schwarz-Weiß Essen 	  	9    1 	2  6 	  6:13 	-7 	  5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SV Sonsbeck 	  	9    1 	2  6 	  6:21 	-15 	  5 
18  VfB Homberg 	  	9    0 	1  8 	  4:22 	-18 	  1

2.Liga, Round 9: Schanzer on top

Ingolstadt outfought Braunschweig and hold the top spot. The Schanzer just seemed to want it a little more than Eintracht, and they ended up taking one of the few chances to get a winner. Certainly a surprise that they top the table, but they’re the only unbeaten team, so they must be doing something right. Braunschweig has generally played poorly, certainly giving less effort than in their Bundesliga season.

Kaiserslautern played one of their best matches against Karlsruhe, The home side was dominant and wanted the win, KSC was too passive and was overrun.

A rare sellout at promoted Darmstadt, perhaps because the fans hadn’t been believing that teh 98ers could mount anything. This time, they packed the stadium, and unfortunately they were caught with their pants down, as visiting Fortuna Düsseldorf ripped their ass. The home side had some hope when they scored just after half, but Benschop put an end to that dream almost immediately after the re-whistle. Outstanding for Fortuna was Finnish striker Joel Pohjanpalo, who grabbed 3 goals and generally caused chaos in the Darmstadt defense. Both should still be considered contenders, although this might have been a “statement” match for Düsseldorf.

Bochum probably should have beaten Nürnberg. Despite a decent performance by der Club, Bochum was just too wasteful on chances, and get stuck with a draw. Perhaps it’s still a hangover from their drubbing in Heidenheim. For FCN, at least they got a point, which even in a promotion battle would have been a good result.

Greuther Fürth had a relatively easy time winning against Erzgebirge Aue. Teh visitors had been playing better to get out of the bottom, but were basically back to their old tricks and looked pretty lame.

Aalen got an important win against 1860, stopping their slide. The hosts were just more energetic in the 2nd period, and a couple of late goals gave them a key victory.

FSV Frankfurt stunned Sandhausen, who had been playing somewhat decently in the last few weeks. This time however SVS was totally lame, so the Bornheimer ran around and did whatever they pleased, getting a key win that has stopped their slide.

Union Berlin started brightly in Hamburg, but when Jopek got tossed after 22 minutes for a last man foul, it was easy sailing for St.Pauli. This was a needed result for the homeside, and a disaster for Berlin, who now prop up the table!

Monday night saw a hardfought match in Leipzig, as Heidenheim showed they would be no pushover for the Redballsportlers. The RasenBulls did equalize an early FCH strike with a nice free kick by Kaiser, but that was about all they could achieve against the disciplined visitors.

Total attendance 162,886 (avg 18,098), sellouts in St.Pauli and Darmstadt

 	
SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   Erzgebirge Aue	2:0 (2:0)   12,690

                     1:0  Weilandt (8., Schröck)
                     2:0  Weilandt (17.)

VfR Aalen	      -   1860 München	        2:0 (0:0)    9,226

                     1:0  Weiß (83., Ludwig)
                     2:0  Feick (85.)

VfL Bochum	      -   1. FC Nürnberg	1:1 (1:0)   25,094

                     1:0  Gregoritsch (44., Tasaka)
                     1:1  Sylvestr (56., Schöpf)

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   Karlsruher SC  	2:0 (2:0)   39,079

                     1:0  Lakic (20., Gaus)
                     2:0  Gaus (35., Lakic)

FC St. Pauli	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	3:0 (1:0)   29,063 *

                     1:0  Nöthe (23., penalty, Budimir)
                     2:0  Rzatkowski (73.)
                     3:0  Verhoek (88., Alushi)
	
FC Ingolstadt 04      -   Eintr. Braunschweig	1:0 (0:0)    7,750

                     1:0  Hinterseer (46., P. Groß)
 
SV Sandhausen	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        0:3 (0:0)    5,014

                     0:1  Toski (51., Kruska)
                     0:2  Kapllani (64., penalty, Kapllani)
                     0:3  Grifo (88., Schembri)

SV Darmstadt 98	      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:4 (0:2)   16,150 *

                     0:1  Pohjanpalo (12., da Silva Pinto)
                     0:2  Pohjanpalo (26.,)
                     1:2  Kempe (46., Stroh-Engel)
                     1:3  Benschop (47., Bellinghausen)
                     1:4  Pohjanpalo (57., Schmitz)
 

Monday:
RB Leipzig	      -   1. FC Heidenheim	1:1 (1:1)   18,820

                     0:1  Heise (21., chnatterer)
                     1:1  D. Kaiser (31., direct freekick)
 	


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	9    5 	4  0 	 16:6 	+10 	  19 
 2  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	9    5 	2  2 	 15:11 	+4 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	9    4 	4  1 	 18:11 	+7 	  16
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	9    4 	4  1 	 14:7 	+7 	  16 
 5  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	9    4 	3  2 	 19:12 	+7 	  15 
 6  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	9    4 	3  2 	 14:10 	+4 	  15 
 7  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	9    4 	2  3 	 14:9 	+5 	  14 
 8  VfL Bochum 	  	        9    3 	5  1 	 17:13 	+4 	  14 
 9  Karlsruher SC 	  	9    3 	3  3 	 11:10 	+1 	  12 
10  FC St. Pauli 	  	9    3 	2  4 	 11:15 	-4 	  11 
11  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	9    3 	1  5 	 12:12 	 0 	  10 
12  SV Sandhausen 	  	9    3 	1  5 	  6:12 	-6 	  10 
13  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	9    3 	1  5 	 10:17 	-7 	  10 
14  VfR Aalen 	  	        9    2 	3  4 	  8:11 	-3 	  9 
15  1860 München	  	9    2  3  4 	 10:14 	-4 	  9
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FSV Frankfurt 	  	9    2 	2  5 	 11:18 	-7 	  8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	9    2 	1  6 	  6:15 	-9 	  7 		
18  1. FC Union Berlin	  	9    1 	4  4 	  6:15 	-9 	  7


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

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

3.Liga, Round 13: Wehen goes top

Wehen goes top of the competitive 3.Liga with a solid performance at promoted Großaspach. The Sonnenhofer fought well, but Wehen was too clever and deservedly tale all the points. But their position at the top is not secure: chasing teams are in a five-way tie for 2nd at 24 points.

The top clash in Bielfeld was a statement for Arminia, as they biatch-slapped erstwhile leaders Dresden. In general it was a top-class match, but Dynamo was undone by uncharacteristic errors by their keeper Bernd Kirsten. The homeside mercilessly took advantage and rolled to a thumping win.

Stuttgarter Kickers also made somewhat of a statement as they crushed a crap Hansa Rostock side. Chemnitz also is back in the hunt, although it was a difficult match against Münster, who were hoping to join the top group as well.

Osnabrück wasn’t overly impressive, but they got the job done against Regensburg, who are mired at the bottom.

Dusibrug missed a good chance to move up as they conceded a draw with VfB Stuttgart-II. The Zebras had enough chance sto win, but faltered at critical moments,

Johannes Rahn nailed a hat-trick for Fortuna Köln as they surprised Cottbus.

Total attendance 59,244 (avg 5,924)

 	
VfL Osnabrück	     -   Jahn Regensburg	2:0 (0:0)    7,664
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   Borussia Dortmund II	2:0 (1:0)    1,500
Stuttgarter Kickers  -   Hansa Rostock	        3:0 (3:0)    4,060
MSV Duisburg	     -   VfB Stuttgart II	1:1 (1:0)   13,441
Fortuna Köln	     -   Energie  Cottbus	3:0 (1:0)    1,911
Arminia Bielefeld    -   Dynamo Dresden 	4:1 (3:1)   14,708
Chemnitzer FC	     -   Preußen Münster	1:0 (1:0)    5,803
1. FSV Mainz 05 II   -   Holstein Kiel	        1:1 (1:0)      732
SG Snhf Großaspach   -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	0:3 (0:1)    1,089
Hallescher FC	     -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	1:2 (1:0)    8,336


 1  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	13    8  2  3 	  24:14  +10 	  26 
 2  Stuttgarter Kickers 	13    7  3  3 	  23:13  +10 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Arminia Bielefeld (A) 	13    7  3  3 	  27:18  +9 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Chemnitzer FC 	  	13    7  3  3 	  15:6 	 +9 	  24 
 5  MSV Duisburg 	  	13    6  6  1 	  21:13  +8 	  24 
 6  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	13    7  3  3 	  22:17  +5 	  24 
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	13    6  4  3 	  20:16  +4 	  22 
 8  Preußen Münster 	  	13    6  3  4 	  20:18  +2 	  21 
 9  Energie Cottbus (A) 	13    5  5  3 	  13:11  +2 	  20 
10  VfL Osnabrück 	  	13    6  2  5 	  19:21  -2 	  20 
11  Holstein Kiel 	  	13    4  5  4 	  16:13  +3 	  17 
12  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	13    5  1  7 	  15:15   0 	  16 
13  Hallescher FC 	  	13    4  3  6 	  16:17  -1 	  15 
14  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	13    4  3  6 	  20:24  -4 	  15 
15  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	13    4  3  6 	  15:22  -7 	  15 
16  Hansa Rostock 	  	13    3  2  8 	  17:26  -9 	  11 
17  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 13    2  5  6 	  15:25  -10 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	13    2  4  7 	  16:22  -6 	  10 
19  Borussia Dortmund II 	13    2  4  7 	  13:21  -8 	  10 
20  Jahn Regensburg J	  	13    2  2  9 	  13:28  -15 	  8




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