The battle for promotion is really heating up. Köln has a slight hold on 1st, but 2nd is potentially up for grabs. 3rd place may only be a playoff spot, but several teams want to seize it. Paderborn was the surprise hold last week, and they were playing excellent football in München and looked to have a win wrapped up. Instead they choked and 1860 scored twice at the end to salvage a point.
Karlsruhe has come out of no where. They faced off against Sandhausen in a Baden derby, although I’m sure KSC fans would bristle at the thought that SVS could be a rival. Afterall, we’re talking Bundesliga pedigree against country bumpkin villagers. But Sandhausen has proven extremely difficult to play against this season, and this one was no exception. Neverthless Karlsruhe kept up the pressure and were rewarded with a victory that at least momentarily puts a foot back in the Bundesliga.
Union Berlin dominated Frankfurt from start to finish, so the result is logical. FSV really showed nothing, so it’s not clear why they even bothered showing up. Union needed this to keep on track and challenging for promotion. Mission accomplished.
Things are grim in Cottbus. OK, you probably already figured that out, a collapsed, non-competitive industrial town tucked into the extreme southeast corner of the former GDR. But we’re talking about football, and unfortunately Energie is going the way of the town. After 17 years of competing in the top-two flights of German football, it looks like they’re dead and buried.
A critical eastern derby with Aue, and they came out flat. Erzgebirge ran all over them and jumped to an insurmountable lead. Energie came out in the 2nd half like a new team and pulled a couple of goals back, but despite frantic efforts, it wasn’t enough. Another miserable loss and it looks like it’s over.
A solid defensive performance and opportunism on counters gave Ingolstadt a deserved victory at troubled Bielefeld. Arminia isn’t quite in the hole like Cottbus, but the alarm bells should be deafening at The Alm. Ingolstadt however is steering towards calmer waters, after staring the season on the wrong foot and looking like a relegation candidate.
Kaiserslautern was stunned at home by Aalen, whose victory allowed them to get breathing room in the relegation battle. FCK was not in form, and couldn’t punch Aalen’s tight defense. The shocking win allowed Aalen to jump all the way to 10th, as several teams are bunched up.
Bochum and Düsseldorf played a generally boring match. The hosts had a slight advantage, as Fortuna did nothing. But despite controlling most of the game, Bochum could do nothing. Both clubs remain anxiously glancing over their shoulder, but results did go their way.
Dresden needed a win to get closer, and instead were knocked off at home by an engaged St.Pauli. In general, the visitors looked better, and Dynamo was somewhat fortunate to be equal at half. Afterwards, St.Pauli deservedly took the lead and were pretty much in control.
On Monday night, the top clash between Köln and Greuther Fürth looked like a win for the home side. Köln was dominating and had the lead, but wasted many chances to finish off the match. As a result, near the end a Greuther counterattack caught the hosts with their pants down, and they dropped points.
Total attendance 189,596 (avg 21,066)
1. FC Union Berlin - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 17,082
1:0 Mattuschka (39., penalty, Terodde)
2:0 Schönheim (76., Mattuschka)
Energie Cottbus - Erzgebirge Aue 2:3 (0:3) 9,495
0:1 Löning (15., Könnecke)
0:2 Löning (18., Könnecke)
0:3 Sylvestr (36., Luksik)
1:3 Stiepermann (48., Michel)
2:3 Stiepermann (72., Michel)
Arminia Bielefeld - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:2 (0:0) 12,200
0:1 P. Hofmann (51.)
0:2 Lappe (83., Quaner)
1860 München - SC Paderborn 07 2:2 (0:2) 13,800
0:1 Vrancic (5., Kachunga)
0:2 Meha (18., direct freekick)
1:2 Bierofka (81., Stoppelkamp)
2:2 Osako (86., Stoppelkamp)
Karlsruher SC - SV Sandhausen 2:1 (0:0) 13,322
1:0 Peitz (51., Torres)
2:0 Hennings (79., penalty, Torres)
2:1 Adler (86., Ulm)
Sunday:
1. FC Kaiserslautern - VfR Aalen 1:2 (0:1) 25,430
0:1 B. Hübner (24., Lechleiter)
0:2 Pohjanpalo (54., Leandro)
1:2 Matmour (68., Lakic)
VfL Bochum - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:0 (0:0) 23,145
Dynamo Dresden - FC St. Pauli 1:2 (1:1) 29,622
0:1 Kringe (35., Trybull)
1:1 M. Hartmann (44.)
1:2 Halstenberg (48., direct freekick)
Monday:
1. FC Köln - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (1:0) 45,500
1:0 Wimmer (36., Ujah)
1:1 Azemi (86.)
1 1. FC Köln 22 12 7 3 34:12 +22 43
2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A) 22 11 4 7 38:26 +12 37
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3 Karlsruher SC (N) 22 9 9 4 30:20 +10 36
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4 1. FC Union Berlin 22 10 6 6 34:27 +7 36
5 SC Paderborn 07 22 10 6 6 39:34 +5 36
6 FC St. Pauli 22 10 5 7 30:27 +3 35
7 1. FC Kaiserslautern 22 10 4 8 35:24 +11 34
8 SV Sandhausen 22 8 6 8 19:20 -1 30
9 1860 München 22 8 6 8 21:26 -5 30
10 VfR Aalen 22 7 7 8 24:26 -2 28
11 FC Ingolstadt 04 22 8 4 10 23:27 -4 28
12 Erzgebirge Aue 22 8 4 10 27:34 -7 28
13 Fortuna Düsseldorf (A) 22 7 7 8 23:31 -8 28
14 FSV Frankfurt 22 7 6 9 32:34 -2 27
15 VfL Bochum 22 7 6 9 20:22 -2 27
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16 Dynamo Dresden 22 4 10 8 23:34 -11 22
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17 Arminia Bielefeld (N) 22 6 4 12 29:44 -15 22
18 Energie Cottbus 22 3 5 14 25:38 -13 14
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