The headlines could have been that Bayern’s “chasers” got dumped, but that’s hardly news that they self destruct. So I guess I figured that Hamburg actually scoring a goal is big news, and it came in a critical Nord-derby match against Bremen, lifting them out of the relegation zone. Let’s no get crarried away, because the 2nd “strike” was an own goal…but overall, HSV dominated the match against Werder, but were banging their head against a brick wall. It wasn’t till the closing minutes that they finally broke through to get a deserved win.
The big news for the leaders Bayern München was not their ridiculously easy cake walk over Hoffenheim, but the return of Bastian Schweinsteiger from injury.
Not much to say about the match except, ho-hum.
Schalke jumped all over Wolfsburg, but then had to hand on desperately as the VWs almost came all the way back in the 2nd half. So far, the new regime in Schalke doesn’t appear to have them playing any better, although at least they’re getting a few results. Wolfsburg was too lazy early on, and that’s why they ended up losing, since this was certainly a winnable match.
A stunner in Gladbach, as the home side was deservedly beaten by Frankfurt. The hosts started quickly, and seemed to be a superior side, but Frankfurt didn’t let that bother them. Eintracht simply got stronger as the match wore on, and by the early 2nd half, it was clear Gladbach were in trouble. The strong effort by the visitors and they deservedly take all the points.
Hannover was rather clueless throughout against Leverkusen, so they lose. The Aspirins at least had an idea what to do, and Stefan Kiessling finally figured it out, scoring for the first time in something like 10 games. The 96ers just were going through the motions, so no surprise that they lose “sang- und klanglos”…
A good effort by Freiburg at Mainz. They had the hosts on the rope until a late goal salvaged a point for Mainz.
Another disastrous outing for Dortmund. They had the match at Paderborn well under control, but let it slip away. SCP fought hard and had a chance, but when the ref denied a clear goal by BVB’s Kevin Grosskreutz, they actually got a reward and managed to salvage a point. What is even worse for Dortmund is that Marco Reus got injured again and is out for a couple of months. Perhaps the Neons should voluntarily withdraw from the Champions League, since they are in a serious relegation struggle, and since their players seem to fall out injured when somebody even looks at them sideways, they really ought to concentrate on the Bundesliga. For Paderborn, they obviously celebrated the draw as a win, great result for them.
Köln wasted chances against Hertha, and therefore lose. Not much else needs to be said here.
Stuttgart was definitely unlucky against Augsburg. In fact, they should probably hire a private detective to see if the ref had been bribed by the opposition or gamblers. Basically he gave a ridiculous red card early to Stuttgart, and when that wasn’t enough, called a lame hand ball penalty. Not that Stuttgart is any good, but at least they deserve a competent ref. VfB is now mired in last place, in serious danger. No blame to Augsburg (assuming they didn’t pay a bribe), they certainly were good for a point, and took the extra that the ref gave them…
Total attendance 424,356 (avg 47,151), sellouts in München, Gladbach, Paderborn, Hamburg
Bayern München - TSG Hoffenheim 4:0 (2:0) 71,000 *
1:0 M. Götze (22., Xabi Alonso)
2:0 Lewandowski (39., Robben)
3:0 Robben (82., Lewandowski)
4:0 Rode (87., chweinsteiger)
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg 3:2 (3:1) 60,989
1:0 Choupo-Moting (10., Höger)
2:0 Choupo-Moting (22., K.-P. Boateng)
3:0 Fuchs (25., direct free kick)
3:1 Olic (37., Perisic)
3:2 Bendtner (74., Perisic)
Bor. Mönchengladbach - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:3 (1:0) 54,010 *
1:0 Nordtveit (6., G. Xhaka)
1:1 Stendera (54., Seferovic)
1:2 Meier (57., Aigner)
1:3 Inui (73., RMeier)
1. FSV Mainz 05 - SC Freiburg 2:2 (1:1) 28,157
1:0 Junior Diaz (27., Geis)
1:1 Schmid (30., Mehmedi)
1:2 Mehmedi (58., Schmid)
2:2 Bell (88., Okazaki)
Hannover 96 - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1:3 (0:0) 40,800
0:1 Kießling (46., Castro)
0:2 Son (58., L. Bender)
1:2 Gülselam (60., Kiyotake)
1:3 Bellarabi (72., Hilbert)
SC Paderborn 07 - Borussia Dortmund 2:2 (0:2) 15,000 *
0:1 Aubameyang (12., Durm)
0:2 Reus (45. + 1, Aubameyang)
1:2 Rupp (60., Bakalorz)
2:2 Saglik (81., Koc)
1. FC Köln - Hertha BSC 1:2 (0:1) 49,200
0:1 Beerens (28., Stocker)
1:1 Ujah (58., Osako)
1:2 M. Ndjeng (86., direct free kick)
Hamburger SV - Werder Bremen 2:0 (0:0) 57,000 *
1:0 Rudnevs (83., Götz)
2:0 Wolf (90. + 3, own goal, Arslan)
VfB Stuttgart - FC Augsburg 0:1 (0:0) 48,200
0:1 Verhaegh (72., Hand penalty)
1 Bayern München (M, P) 12 9 3 0 31:3 +28 30
2 VfL Wolfsburg 12 7 2 3 24:12 +12 23
3 Bor. Mönchengladbach 12 5 5 2 16:9 +7 20
4 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 12 5 5 2 20:16 +4 20
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5 Hannover 96 12 6 1 5 10:14 -4 19
6 FC Schalke 04 12 5 2 5 17:17 0 17
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7 TSG Hoffenheim 12 4 5 3 17:18 -1 17
8 1. FSV Mainz 05 12 3 7 2 15:14 +1 16
9 SC Paderborn 07 (N) 12 4 4 4 18:18 0 16
10 FC Augsburg 11 5 0 6 14:12 +2 15
11 1. FC Köln (N) 12 4 3 5 12:13 -1 15
12 Eintracht Frankfurt 12 4 3 5 20:24 -4 15
13 Hertha BSC Berlin 12 4 2 6 17:22 -5 14
14 SC Freiburg 12 2 6 4 13:16 -3 12
15 Hamburger SV 12 3 3 6 6:14 -8 12
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16 Borussia Dortmund 12 3 2 7 14:19 -5 11
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17 Werder Bremen 12 2 4 6 14:26 -11 10
18 VfB Stuttgart 12 2 3 7 14:26 -12 9
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