Hertha deservedly won in a difficult match against an FSV Frankfurt side that hunkered down and didn’t yield an inch defensively. Hertha tried to press, but found now way through. To make matters worse, the Bornheimers launched a raid and even took the lead. It was Brazilian Ronny, who’s having a fine season for the Berliners, who managed to turn the tide late and get the win. Looks like a return to the Bundesliga is in the cards, provided they don’t stink up the joint in the 2nd half of the season.
BTW, Hertha oldie Levan Kobiashvili has been fined 60,000 euros for his disgraceful behavior in the promotion playoff at Düsseldorf last season. Seems reasonable punishment for the foreigner with the most all-time Bundesliga matches. He seems to have accepted the verdict, at least he hasn’t applied for a Serbian passport so UEFA could just give him a wrist slap instead…
No ho-ho-ho in Kaiserslautern. FCK’s holiday collapse has been shocking. The Reds were stunned at home by Aalen, whom most FCK fans probably couldn’t even find on a map. The hosts controlled the ball and space, but the promoted side showed excellent defensive discipline and warded off threats easily. Then just before half FCK fell asleep and Aalen pounced with a blitz counter and scored. Lautern totally dominated in the 2nd half and blew some decent chances to equalize, and are left with an egg on their face and have completely lost touch with the top. Great result for Aalen, continuing their fine maiden 2.Liga season.
Crappy weather and conditions put a damper on the ex-GDR derby between Aue and Cottbus. Freezing cold but hot-tempers made for a nasty struggle that ultimately ended with some red cards at the end. Erzgebirge was rewarded a somewhat contraversial penalty, but in the end deservedly won, as they were the better side. They needed the win to try and keep some room above the abyss-zone. Energie might have deserved a little better, but blew their chance to make K-lautern’s Xmas even worse…
Hard fought match in Sandhausen, Köln perhaps wondering what they were doing in some unknown village in mid-December, fighting to keep their asses warm. Lots of fouls, few scoring opportunities, a fair result.
Entertaining match in Ingolstadt, but the hosts and St.Pauli having a few goal chances. Overall, a fair result.
UPDATE:
Dresden got a good point at 1860, but still remain in the dumps. The hosts were the dominant squad, but Dynamo showed decent spirit and a compact defense. They even managed to grab the lead and perhaps felt they could hold on as the Lions wasted their chances. But a late goal squared the match, which gives the fair result.
Duisburg has found life recently, although it looked like a step backwards against Regensburg. With MSV sleeping, Jahn jumped out to a nice half-time lead, which a few weeks ago would have been sufficient for a nice win. However the Zebras have straightened some things out, and came out with a furious assault in the 2nd half, and the Regensburg dream crumbled.
Bochum is another club that has perhaps woken up. They weren’t doing much against Paderborn, but neither were the guests. What was different is that VfL actually converted their chances. For SCP, the second goal was apparently the sign it was vacation, and they basically stopped playing in the 2nd half. Bochum toyed around and then decided to kick Paderborn in the ass a couple more times as an Xmas present.
Braunschweig had a hardtime, but was finally able to beat down a spirited Union Berlin. Eintracht was able to leap back into the lead with the win, while Union’s mini unbeaten streak is stopped at seven.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - VfR Aalen 0:1 (0:1) 23,006
0:1 Valentini (45., Leandro)
Erzgebirge Aue - Energie Cottbus 3:0 (1:0) 7,050
1:0 Sylvestr (38., penalty, Hochscheidt)
2:0 Sylvestr (80., Könnecke)
3:0 M. Fink (85., Könnecke)
SV Sandhausen - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 6,200
Hertha BSC Berlin - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 30,000
0:1 M. Görlitz (55.)
1:1 M. Ndjeng (82., Ronny)
2:1 Ronny (84., Lustenberger)
FC Ingolstadt 04 - FC St. Pauli 0:0 (0:0) 6,648
Sunday:
1860 München - Dynamo Dresden 1:1 (0:0) 22,200
0:1 Gueye (61., Solga)
1:1 Vallori (80., Tomasov)
MSV Duisburg - Jahn Regensburg 4:2 (0:2) 10,741
0:1 Sembolo (11., Altinay)
0:2 Laurito (40., Neunaber)
1:2 Sukalo (52., Jovanovic)
2:2 Jovanovic (61., Bomheuer)
3:2 Brandy (63., Baljak)
4:2 Brosinski (88.)
VfL Bochum - SC Paderborn 07 4:0 (2:0) 10,250
1:0 Aydin (17., Rzatkowski)
2:0 Goretzka (40., Rzatkowski)
3:0 Aydin (72., Rzatkowski)
4:0 Scheidhauer (80., Goretzka)
Monday:
Eintracht Braunschweig - 1. FC Union Berlin 4:3 (2:2) 21,200
0:1 Nemec (4., Quiring)
1:1 Kumbela (10.)
1:2 Nemec (32.)
2:2 Kumbela (43., penalty, Ademi)
3:2 Kumbela (57., Boland)
4:2 Boland (75.)
4:3 Quiring (90.)
Total attendance: 137,295 (avg 15,255)
1 Eintracht Braunschweig 19 13 5 1 35:15 +20 44
2 Hertha BSC Berlin (A) 19 12 6 1 36:15 +21 42
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3 1. FC Kaiserslautern (A) 19 8 8 3 29:21 +8 32
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4 Energie Cottbus 19 8 5 6 26:23 +3 29
5 VfR Aalen (N) 19 8 4 7 20:16 +4 28
6 1860 München 19 6 9 4 21:15 +4 27
7 1. FC Union Berlin 19 7 6 7 30:27 +3 27
8 FSV Frankfurt 19 8 3 8 27:24 +3 27
9 FC Ingolstadt 04 19 6 8 5 22:21 +1 26
10 1. FC Köln (A) 19 6 8 5 22:21 +1 26
11 Erzgebirge Aue 19 6 5 8 27:28 -1 23
12 SC Paderborn 07 19 6 5 8 23:24 -1 23
13 FC St. Pauli 19 5 7 7 18:22 -4 22
14 MSV Duisburg 19 6 3 10 20:32 -12 21
15 VfL Bochum 19 5 5 9 24:33 -9 20
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16 Dynamo Dresden 19 3 7 9 19:29 -10 16
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17 SV Sandhausen (N) 19 3 6 10 20:39 -19 15
18 Jahn Regensburg (N) 19 3 4 12 22:34 -12 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