Keeping Abreast of the Bundesliga (Week 31)

Borussia Dortmund 4 – 0 Karlsruher SC 80,100

Statistics often fail to show the whole story but in the case of Karlsruhe they tell a tale of woe that is unlikely to twist and turn but bound for disappointment and demotion later this month. From 432 shots this season they have netted 21 times and an 18th scoreless outing was always on the cards at the sold-out Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. Dortmund have won 7 games running and, in doing so, have gained 2 points fewer than Karlsruhe have amassed all season. Goals from Nuri Sahin, Felipe Santana and Alexander Frei adding insult to injury following Jakub Blaszczykowski’s cracking near post volley opened the floodgates after 25 minutes.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 – 2 DSC Arminia Bielefeld 23,150

After 390 days out injured Bernd Schneider, 35, took his place on the Bayer bench for the visit of Bielefeld but was powerless to prevent the guests taking a point from their temporary LTU Arena home in Düsseldorf, although a late Patrick Helmes strike did at least ensure a share of the spoils for the hosts on Friday night. Stefan Kießling had put Leverkusen in front before goals from Radim Kucera and Robert Tesche (all headers) had turned the game on its head.

Hertha BSC 2 – 0 Vfl Bochum 1848 71,323

“Das Runde muss durchs Eckige” (The round must go through the square) is the current battle cry of the Hertha fans in reference to the League Shield’s planned parade route through the Brandenburg Gate this month. Despite trainer Lucien Favre’s consistent refusal to get carried away it remains a distinct possibility. Bold tactics from the coach against Bochum at the Olympiastadion on Saturday were rewarded with scores from 2 out of the 3 selected strikers, Marko Pantelic notching his 7th of the campaign and Raffael his 6th to move Hertha into 3rd, keeping them right in the thick of the title race and Bochum immersed in a tense relegation battle.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2 – 0 1. FC Köln 30,150

A stadium announcement and a post-match apology from Köln coach Christoph Daum were required at Hoffenheim’s Rhein Neckar Arena on Saturday after vicious taunts were directed at home team owner Dietmar Hopp. Hoffenheim had the last laugh, however, as a Sejad Salihovic set-piece special and a riproaring effort from Demba Ba gave the home side the points, although Boubacar Sanogo did put a late penalty woefully wide, Köln’s Youssef Mohammed having been sent off for the foul in the 78th minute.

Hannover 96 1 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 44,855

Referee Perl refused visitors Frankfurt a penalty (à la Florent Malouda vs Barcelona) at Hannover’s AWD Arena on Saturday to deny the guests all 3 points after Arnold Bruggink had given Hannover the lead with his 5th of the season to round off a lovely one-touch move started by Mikkael Forsell’s prodded through-pass on 9 minutes and Ümit Korkmaz’s diving header from a Martin Fenin cross had levelled the scores 3 minutes before the break.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 – 0 FC Schalke 04 54,067

If Schalke keep up their current bout of form they will miss out on European football for the first time since the 2000/01 season. They were hard done by at Borussia Park on Sunday, eventually going down to a last-minute Roberto Colautti strike, his 1st of the season, but could not say they had not been warned, having ridden their luck after Manuel Neuer had saved a 1st half Marko Marin spot-kick and Gladbach had wasted an opportunity from an indirect free-kick given for Neuer’s handling of a Halil Altintop back-pass in the 2nd.

SV Werder Bremen 2 – 0 Hamburger SV 42,100

Having been knocked out oft he DFB-Cup on penalties and beaten over 2 legs in the UEFA-Cup - both at the semi-final stage and both in their own back yard – Hamburg were put to the sword by local rivals Werder Bremen for the 4th time in 19 days to effectively rule them out of the title running for another year. Werder’s Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida grabbed both goals at the Weserstadion on Sunday, supported by match-winning performances from midfielders Thorsten Frings and Mesut Özil as the home fans sang “Finale, Whoa-oh-oah” (to the tune of “Vieira”). They also taunted their opponents by tossing around a giant replica of the paper ball thrown onto the field by a Hamburg fan during the UEFA-Cup semi-final 2nd leg on Thursday night, which inadvertently redirected a simple back-pass towards the by-line for a corner, from which Werder snatched the game’s winning goal.
While Hamburg have lost 3 of their last 5 league games in what striker Mladen Petric has called “the worst 2 weeks of my career”, Werder have won 4 home games running but were not helped by their awkward frontman Claudio Pizarro who, having started “auf der Bank” (on the bench) after somehow picking up a knock putting the balls back in the cupboard during training, came on to miss from 3 yards-thwarted by a terrific stop from Frank Rost and his own inability to find the corner from kissing distance.

FC Energie Cottbus 1 – 3 FC Bayern München 22,528

Highly rated 9m € signing from Estudiantes, Jose Ernesto Sosa, put Bayern ahead at the Stadion der Freundschaft on Saturday before Cottbus hit back when a superb Stanislav Angelov bicycle kick was brilliantly kept out by Bayern keeper Hans-Jörg Butt but parried into the path of Ivica Iliev, who rammed home the rebound for the “Ausgleichstreffer” (equaliser). However, the second half belonged to the Bavarians, Martin Demichaelis and Lukas Podolski making the points safe, and could even afford to carry a fluffed penalty from Franck Ribery which was saved well by Cottbus stopper Gerhard Tremmel.

Vfb Stuttgart 4 – 1 Vfl Wolfsburg 55,700

“Spitzenreiter” (Table-toppers) Wolfsburg were dealt a huge blow by up-and-coming Stuttgart at the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday, where Mario Gomez became the first man to score 4 in a game for Stuttgart since Jürgen Klinsmann in 1986.
The match had been billed as the “Duell der Topstürmer” (Dual of the top strikers) as Gomez had begun the day level alongside Edin Dzeko on 19 goals with the Bosnian’s team-mate Grafite out in front on 23. 4 Gomez goals – 2 with the head, 1 with the left foot, 1 with the right – later Gomez stood neck and neck with the Brazilian Grafite, Dzeko trailing with 20 after he tucked in what proved to be a consolation for the away team on 37 minutes.
It could have been so different had Cristian Zaccardo not produced yet another candidate for ‘Miss of the Season’ with the score at 2-1. Jens Lehmann spilled and, instead of mopping up from 2 yards, Zaccardo made an almighty mess of the finish to leave his side only a whisker ahead at the top as we enter ‘Squeaky Bum Time’ in the Bundesliga.