Is it over? Bayern wins the super clash at Dortmund and looks unstoppable.
Dortmund was in trouble before the match, as coach Jürgen Klopp was forced to build a makeshift backline, as Hummels, Subotic and Schmelzer were all injured. Also missing is playmaker Gündogan, so clearly the Neons were at a disadvantage. Bayern was missing Ribery, but otherwise was pretty much at full strength. As expected the vistors controlled the ball, but Dortmund remained dangerous on counters. Not surprisingly, it was Mario Götze who made the difference. The ex-Dortmunder came on in the 2nd period who massive whitsling (boos), but 10 minutes later opened the scoring with a hard toe poke from top of the box. The Neons reacted with furious attacks, and came close to equalizing. However, they were then exposed at the back and Bayern ruthlessly kicked them in the balls. The result was clearly too high, but there you have it. Dortmund certainly can’t challenge any more this season, and with although the Leverkusen remains in striking distance, I don’t think anyone expects the Aspirins to mount a serious threat to Bayern.
Good win for Gladbach on the road, and it looks like they’re playing themselves into form. Stuttgart was just too disorganized, and despite some pressure, Gladbach was easily able to slip out and wreak havoc, getting a deserved road win.
Wolfsburg dominated at Nürnberg, but wasted chance upon chance to finish off the match. Der Club managed to get a point they probably didn’t deserve, and although they’re still waiting for a win, they’ll take it.
Solid performance by Augsburg and a deserved win over Hoffenheim, who never really got going. FCA is always mentioned as a relegation candidate, but so far this season they’ve been pretty solid, and of course others are playing crap, so it doesn’t look likely that the Fuggers are going to get into trouble.
Poor match in Braunschweig, and Freiburg comes up happy. Neither side showed much, but the SCF win gives them a boost out of the bottom. Braunschweig fights hard, but when you can’t score, you’re not going to be around too long.
Two disappointing clubs in Frankfurt and Schalke, and both lived up (and down) to expectations. Schalke jumped out early and seemed to have it under control. But they usually manage to suck, and Eintracht launched an impressive comeboack to grab the lead. But they couldn’t hold it as the visitors launched a desperate end spurt that salvaged a point. Entertaining game no doubt, but I can’t imagine either coach will be very satisfied.
Leverkusen won on a suspect offsides goal by Kiessling (well, at least f\if you’re a Berliner, looked borderline to me), otherwise there wasn’t much of a difference between Hertha and the visitors.
Hamburg wasn’t overly impressive, but they didn’t need to be against Hannover. The 96ers haven’t won away in this northern derby in about 10 years, so no suprise here. HSV did enough to get the win and stabilize their ship, whereas Hannover should start looking nervously over their shoulder.
Mainz caught Bremen napping and get a needed away win. Werder was truly sleeping and let the visitors do whatever they wanted. Mainz took advantage and built a solid lead. Bremen did wake up and assulat the Mainz goal, but it turned out to be too late to salavage anything.
Total attendance 404,987 (avg 44,998), sold out in Frankfurt and Dortmund
VfB Stuttgart - Bor. Mönchengladbach 0:2 (0:1) 49,560 0:1 Raffael (37., Herrmann) 0:2 Wendt (73., Herrmann) 1. FC Nürnberg - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (0:1) 35,678 0:1 Arnold (39., Diego) 1:1 Ginczek (72.) FC Augsburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:0 (2:0) 27,855 1:0 Halil Altintop (17., Ostrzolek) 2:0 Halil Altintop (23., Verhaegh) Eintracht Braunschweig - SC Freiburg 0:1 (0:0) 21,810 0:1 Fernandes (52., Sorg) Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Schalke 04 3:3 (0:2) 51,500 * 0:1 Flum (14., own goal, Uchida) 0:2 Matip (18., Aogo) 1:2 Flum (56.) 2:2 Joselu (61., S. Jung) 3:2 Joselu (68., Barnetta) 3:3 Höwedes (86.) Hertha BSC - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:1 (0:1) 47,419 0:1 Kießling (29., Hegeler) Borussia Dortmund - Bayern München 0:3 (0:0) 80,645 * 0:1 M. Götze (66., T. Müller) 0:2 Robben (85., Thiago) 0:3 T. Müller (87., Lahm) Sunday: Hamburger SV - Hannover 96 3:1 (1:1) 52,091 0:1 Huszti (28.) 1:1 Badelj (31.) 2:1 Beister (46., Westermann) 3:1 Calhanoglu (84., Beister) Werder Bremen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:3 (0:2) 38,429 0:1 N. Müller (7., Polter) 0:2 Okazaki (17., Pospech) 0:3 Okazaki (70., Bell) 1:3 Elia (85., di Santo) 2:3 di Santo (90., Elia) 1 Bayern München (M, P) 13 11 2 0 30:7 +23 35 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 13 10 1 2 28:14 +14 31 3 Borussia Dortmund 13 9 1 3 32:14 +18 28 4 Bor. Mönchengladbach 13 8 1 4 30:16 +14 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 VfL Wolfsburg 13 7 1 5 19:15 +4 22 6 FC Schalke 04 13 6 3 4 26:26 0 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 1. FSV Mainz 05 13 6 1 6 20:25 -5 19 8 Hertha BSC Berlin (N) 13 5 3 5 20:17 +3 18 9 VfB Stuttgart 13 4 4 5 24:23 +1 16 10 FC Augsburg 13 5 1 7 15:23 -8 16 11 Hamburger SV 13 4 3 6 29:30 -1 15 12 Werder Bremen 13 4 3 6 15:23 -8 15 13 Hannover 96 13 4 2 7 15:22 -7 14 14 1899 Hoffenheim 13 3 4 6 28:30 -2 13 15 Eintracht Frankfurt 13 2 5 6 17:24 -7 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 SC Freiburg 13 2 5 6 14:24 -10 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 1. FC Nürnberg 13 0 8 5 13:26 -13 8 18 Eintracht Braunschweig (N) 13 2 2 9 8:24 -16 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