Dortmund takes the match of the season by defeating Bayern, and might have just sealed the Bundesliga title.
Hertha BSC Berlin - SC Freiburg 1:2 (0:1) 45,778
0:1 Hubnik (7., own goal, Dembelé)
0:2 Freis (67., Dembelé)
1:2 Hubnik (81., Raffael)
FC Augsburg - VfB Stuttgart 1:3 (1:2)
1:0 Rafael (5., penalty, M. Ndjeng)
1:1 Tasci (24., Hajnal)
1:2 Harnik (34., Hajnal)
1:3 Ibisevic (84., Gentner)
1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Köln 4:0 (3:0) 34,000
1:0 Polanski (19., penalty, Szalai)
2:0 Zidan (31., N. Müller)
3:0 N. Müller (37., Choupo-Moting)
4:0 Szalai (54., Soto)
Werder Bremen - Borussia M'gladbach 2:2 (1:0) 42,100
1:0 Rosenberg (18., Pizarro)
1:1 Hanke (52., Arango)
1:2 Hanke (66., Reus)
2:2 Naldo (74., Junuzovic)
Borussia Dortmund - Bayern München 1:0 (0:0) 80,720
1:0 Lewandowski (77., Großkreutz)
1. FC Nürnberg - FC Schalke 04 4:1 (3:0) 44,031
1:0 Balitsch (25., Didavi)
2:0 Simons (37., penalty, Frantz)
3:0 Didavi (45., Chandler)
3:1 Holtby (85., Huntelaar)
4:1 Didavi (87.)
1899 Hoffenheim - Hamburger SV 4:0 (2:0) 27,000
1:0 Vestergaard (17., Weis)
2:0 Salihovic (25., penalty, Schipplock)
3:0 Johnson (51., Salihovic)
4:0 Schipplock (59., Vukcevic)
Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3:1 (1:1) 25,627
1:0 Kießling (1., Derdiyok)
1:1 Derstroff (42., Fortounis)
2:1 Rolfes (57., Castro)
3:1 Reinartz (69., Barnetta)
Hannover 96 - VfL Wolfsburg 2:0 (1:0) 43,800
1:0 M. Diouf (44., Schlaudraff)
2:0 Ya Konan (77., Schlaudraff)
1 Borussia Dortmund (M) 30 21 6 3 67:22 +45 69
2 Bayern München 30 20 3 7 69:20 +49 63
3 FC Schalke 04 (P) 30 18 3 9 65:39 +26 57
4 Borussia M'gladbach 30 15 8 7 43:22 +21 53
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5 VfB Stuttgart 30 13 7 10 55:40 +15 46
6 Bayer Leverkusen 30 12 8 10 43:40 +3 44
7 Hannover 96 30 11 11 8 39:42 -3 44
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8 Werder Bremen 30 11 9 10 44:46 -2 42
9 1899 Hoffenheim 30 10 10 10 38:40 -2 40
10 VfL Wolfsburg 30 12 4 14 41:54 -13 40
11 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 9 9 12 47:48 -1 36
12 1. FC Nürnberg 30 10 5 15 31:42 -11 35
13 SC Freiburg 30 9 8 13 41:56 -15 35
14 Hamburger SV 30 7 10 13 33:55 -22 31
15 FC Augsburg (N) 30 6 12 12 32:47 -15 30
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16 1. FC Köln 30 8 5 17 36:63 -27 29
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17 Hertha BSC (N) 30 6 9 15 31:54 -23 27
18 1. FC Kaiserslautern 30 3 11 16 19:44 -25 20
In the match of the season, Dortmund upended Bayern and may have decided the title. The match was played at a furious pace, both teams giving no quarter. Despite fighting for everyball, it was very fair (no cards) and the ref was on top of every call. The winner was a cheeky backheel from Robert Lewandowski, as he redirected Kevin Grosskreutz shot from the top of the box. No chance for the otherwise superb Neuer. However, the Neons really need to tone down the excitement of the last 5 minutes. Luckily they pack in over 80,000, since several fans undoubtedly had heartattacks in the last minutes against Stuttgart and Bayern. After the goal, Bayern threw everything forward in a desperate attempt to save the match. Weidenfeller saved a penalty from Robben, Subotic headed off his own crossbar – Robben blasting the point blank rebound 50 yards over, and in a blitz counterattack, Lewandowski lifted over Neuer only to be denied by the underside of the bar! A great match, probably on balance a fair win for the Neons, and one that might just allow Dortmund to make it back-to-back. Certainly makes the rematch in the Cup final even juicier…
Berlin looks more like they’re going down, but Freiburg will hang around. SCF was clearly the better team, and took advantage of Hertha’s mistakes. The Berliners can still save their sorry asses, but they can’t be dumping points. This pretty much assures safety for the Breisgauers though, as I can’t imagine them getting relegated now.
Two vastly improved sides met in Augsburg, and it was the more experienced Stuttgart that grabs the points. FCA started well, as VfB was sleeping, but once Stuttgart grabbed the equalizer, the visitors gradually assumed control. Augsburg fought very bravely, but Stuttgart was too clever and talented to let them back in, and brings home the bacon. FCA is still in the danger zone.
Köln remains in serious trouble, as they got their ass pounded. Well, an early dubious penalty was the key, as Köln completely fell apart. Basically, Jemel touched Szalai on the shoulder. The Hungarian ran another 3 yards and then decided to fall down, and the ref acted like a wanker and gave a penalty. He should have called Immigration and had Szalai deported instead. But Polanski knocked home the freebie, and Mainz smelled blood and proceeded to clinically dissect the visitors. Of course, the penalty was a farce, but Köln sucked, so it’s hard to feel too much sympathy. Good result by Mainz, who can now pretty much relax.
Bremen and Gladbach battled furiously to a draw. This is actually a good effort for Werder, as they were down a man for over 60 minutes when Boenisch got his ass red carded. It didn’t seem to matter. Both teams pressed hard for a knockout blow, and although the point split really helps neither, it’s the fair result.
Traditionally, the Fanfreundschaft (“fan friendship”) between Schalke and Nürnberg is one of the longest in the Bundesliga. In general, it’s good natured, peace-and-love-kumbaya-ya-de-ya-da, and they try and help each other out against common enemies like Dortmund and Bayern or SpVgg Erkenschwick. (“Erk-Erk-Erken-schwick”. Sorry, I just had to throw that one in…) Apparently Schalke decided to take it more seriously this time, as they rolled over as Nürnberg kicked them in the nuts and grabbed 3 critical points against relegation. FCN was engaged and determined, Schalke flat and aloof, so no surprise they got horse-whipped.
Biatch-slap! Hamburg got stuffed in Hoffenheim. Actually, HSV started out well enough, but the Hoppers cold-bloodedly converted their chances and Hamburg fell apart like Rick Perry’s presidential campaign. Luckily, their relegation rivals also got “owned” (see “owned” videos on Youtube and you’ll get the idea), so at least HSV isn’t any worse off. But with crap performances, they have to be looking over their shoulder. Ho-hum for Hoffenheim, but they’ve established themselves midtable – it doesn’t get more middle than 10W-10T-10L – which is a decent accomplishment, as it looked a few matches ago that they were so disinterested that they would fold up and accept voluntary relegation.
After several frighteningly bad performances, a win for Luserkusen. Well, it’s against hopeless Kaiserslautern, so I’m not sure it should count. OK, the Aspirins did what they needed, basically just show up, let K-town run around energetically but aimlessly, then bang in a couple of goals and collect the points. Just what you’d expect from a side trying to sneak into Europe. A sharp Bayer (like last year under Heynckes) probably would have scored a half-dozen, but a win is a win…
The Niedersachsen derby between the two neighbors ended with a clear Hannover win. The 96ers had some luck though, as they showed up about 30 minutes late for the match. So Wolfsburg basically was like that Monty Python skit, Bournemouth Gynecologists vs the Watford Long John Silver Impersonators ( hwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ejTTJmJSHkk), except that Wolfsburg was missing the goal. Then the 96ers showed up, and proceeded to make the VWs pay for their wastefulness…