Bayern stubbed their toe last week with their first loss, but they’re laughing again as their rivals laid eggs. They did take care of business, as they dominated against HSV and got their first win in Hamburg since 2006. HSV has been much improved since a poor start, but they really had no chance against the determined Bavarians.
Once again “Hoeness’ Law” (a relative of IT centric “Moore’s Law” no doubt): “The others are too dumb to win the title”. It was truly on display in Hoffenheim. Schalke *was* in superb recent form, and they dominated against Hoffenheim with crisp attacking play. GK Tim Wiese was in top form (which has been rare this season for the Hoppers), but Schalke was creating chances and looked like they would win in a rout. But somehow they couldn’t pull away – indeed they spent most of their day chasing their tail, as Hoffenheim was ruthlessly efficient on counters. And in injury, the supreme insult as the Hoppers stole all the points.
Dortmund faced a determined Stuttgart, and was somewhat unlucky to break through. The Neons pressed hard, but VfB GK Ulreich was in top form. Perhaps Dortmund was unlucky not to get the win, but sometimes you have to make your own luck. Bad news was increased as Sebastian Kehl went down injured as well (he got elbowed in the eye). Good point for Stuttgart.
Despite a dream blitz-start, Frankfurt was unable to get the win against a battling Greuther Fürth. Alex Meier continued his great season in the battle of promoted sides, but Eintracht seemed a bit lackadasical, and were duly punished.
Leverkusen made things more difficult than necessary against sinking Düsseldorf. The Aspirins should have been free and clear, but they continually kicked themselves in the balls when they were on the verge of breaking it open. However despite Simon Rolfes getting his ass tossed, the hosts were able to prevail in a Rhein-derby. Fortuna looks in free-fall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get relegated. They had a nice start, but they’ve been “gewogen und zu leicht gefunden” (basically, they’ve been “figured out”)
Hannover has been sucking recently, so nothing like a good dose of Augsburg to cure themselves. The Fuggers were horrible, so the 96ers waltzed along to an easy victory. They shouldn’t get too complacent, as they could have easily run up a half-dozen scores. Augsburg looked like a 2.Liga side again.
Intense match in Gladbach, but a deserved draw for Freiburg. The hosts had more of the play, but were frustrated by a disciplined SCF and their own incompetance. Gladbach coach Lucien Favre crowned the day by getting his ass tossed for whining too much.
Werder Bremen was somewhat fortunate to get the win against Mainz. An outstanding Aaron Hunt scored both for the Greens, capping it with a late direct freekick. (BTW, Mainz GK Wetklo knocked himself out by banging his face into the post). Mainz was fully in the match, and wasted many chances to score.
Two struggling teams in Nürnberg, and the hosts prevailed over lethargic Wolfsburg in the end. Overall, der Club deserved the win, since they pressed (in an incompetant manner for most of the match). Wolfsburg was never interested, so they get a deserved loss. Perhaps Felix Magath is chuckling as he collects his unemployment check.
This round’s attendance was 407,521 (avg 45,280)
Eintracht Frankfurt - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (1:0) 47,400
1:0 Meier (1.)
1:1 Stieber (53., Sararer)
Borussia Dortmund - VfB Stuttgart 0:0 (0:0) 80.645
Borussia M'gladbach - SC Freiburg 1:1 (0:0) 47,673
1:0 de Camargo (49., Wendt)
1:1 D. Caligiuri (77., penalty, Sorg)
Hannover 96 - FC Augsburg 2:0 (1:0) 41,200
1:0 M. Diouf (26., Stindl)
2:0 Stindl (85., M. Diouf)
1. FC Nürnberg - VfL Wolfsburg 1:0 (0:0) 37,586
1:0 Gebhart (76., Chandler)
1899 Hoffenheim - FC Schalke 04 3:2 (1:1) 30,150
1:0 Volland (13., Johnson)
1:1 Neustädter (37., Farfan)
2:1 Roberto Firmino (67., penalty, Volland)
2:2 Uchida (82., Huntelaar)
3:2 Schipplock (90. + 1, Grifo)
Hamburger SV - Bayern München 0:3 (0:1) 57,000
0:1 Schweinsteiger (40., Kroos)
0:2 T. Müller (48., Ribery)
0:3 Kroos (53., Ribery)
Bayer Leverkusen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 3:2 (2:1) 27,153
1:0 Sam (16., Kießling)
1:1 Rafael (40., Bellinghausen)
2:1 Schürrle (41.)
3:1 Castro (66., Carvajal)
3:2 Bodzek (86.)
Werder Bremen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:1 (1:0) 39,114
1:0 Hunt (10., Petersen)
1:1 Szalai (64., Zabavnik)
2:1 Hunt (85.)
1 Bayern München 10 9 0 1 30:4 +26 27
2 FC Schalke 04 10 6 2 2 20:11 +9 20
3 Eintracht Frankfurt (N) 10 6 2 2 21:14 +7 20
4 Bayer Leverkusen 10 5 3 2 18:14 +4 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Borussia Dortmund (M, P) 10 4 4 2 20:11 +9 16
6 Hannover 96 10 4 2 4 20:16 +4 14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
7 Werder Bremen 10 4 2 4 17:15 +2 14
8 1. FSV Mainz 05 10 4 2 4 13:12 +1 14
9 Hamburger SV 10 4 1 5 11:14 -3 13
10 VfB Stuttgart 10 3 4 3 10:15 -5 13
11 Borussia M'gladbach 10 3 4 3 13:19 -6 13
12 SC Freiburg 10 3 3 4 14:13 +1 12
13 1899 Hoffenheim 10 3 2 5 16:22 -6 11
14 1. FC Nürnberg 10 3 2 5 8:15 -7 11
15 Fortuna Düsseldorf (N) 10 2 4 4 9:15 -6 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16 VfL Wolfsburg 10 2 2 6 6:17 -11 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N) 10 1 4 5 7:16 -9 7
18 FC Augsburg 10 1 3 6 5:15 -10 6
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: Releghation to 2.Liga