Yet again, the form of the Bundesliga’s top clubs has proved anything but predictable, with only two of the top six managing a win at the weekend. Schalke and a seemingly resurgent Bayern Munich were the weekend’s big winners and they move up to third and fourth respectively. Bayern enjoyed a 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday night at the Allianz Arena. Mario Gomez put them into the lead after nineteen minutes but Borussia were level less than ten minutes later through Roel Brouwers. Holger Badstuder won the game for the Munich side with the only goal of a quiet second half and the win could prove a much needed boost ahead of their winner takes all Champions League show-down with Juventus in midweek. Schalke beat Hertha Berlin with second half goals from Kevin Kuranyi and a Rafinha penalty in injury time. As a result, Hertha remain routed to the foot of the table with just five points, yet they are still just a couple of wins away from catching a cluster of clubs hovering precariously above.
Nurnberg occupies the other automatic relegation position and they were on the end of a 4-0 thumping by Borussia Dortmund. The game was effectively over at halftime, with Borussia surging to a 3-0 lead with goals from Kevin Groskreutz, Lucas Barrios and Mohamed Zidan before Mats Hummels completed the scoring with half an hour remaining. The result meant that Stuttgart were able to move out of the second relegation spot, but only on goal difference thanks to their 1-1 draw against Bochum. The game had all the hallmarks of a relegation six pointer, with Bochum just one point above the drop zone. Serdar Tasci put Stuttgart in front midway through the second half and Markus Babbel must have thought his side had earned the points when Bochum had second half substitute Diego Fernando Klimowicz send off for a dangerous challenge late in the game. However, with a minute left on the clock Christian Fuchs sent a marvelous curling free-kick into the top corner of the net, rescuing a vital point for Bochum.
Cologne – themselves just two points from safety – were able to gain an unlikely point at home to in form Werder Bremen, holding the second placed side to a 0-0 draw. The result gave Bayer Leverkusen the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table, but they were also held 0-0 by another side threatened by relegation in the shape of Hannover. Hamburg and Hoffenheim played out the other of the weekend’s three goalless matches.
In a weekend also characterized by relegation threatened clubs scoring unlikely points, Freiburg held champions Wolfsburg to a 2-2 draw at the Volkswagen Arena. The scores were level at halftime when Freiburg’s opener – scored by Mohamadou Idrissou – was cancelled out by a Felix Bastians own goal. They were back in front just six minutes into the second half thanks to a very harsh penalty, duly converted by Ivica Banovic. Fabian Johnson rescued a point for the Wolves with a fine chipped effort after 81 minutes. Elsewhere, Mainz dropped down to ninth with a 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, Maik Franz and Alexander Meier the scorers.
Full Results
Friday December 4, 2009
Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Saturday December 5, 2009
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Nurnberg
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Mainz
Hamburg 0-0 Hoffenheim
Hannover 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Stuttgart 1-1 Bochum
Wolfsburg 2-2 Freiburg
Sunday December 6, 2009
Cologne 0-0 Werder Bremen
Schalke 2-0 Hertha Berlin
