Bundesliga Matchday 24

FC Bayern München v. Borussia Dortmund 1:3 (1:2)

Goal Scorers: FCB – Gustavo 16’; BVB – Barrios 9’, Sahin 18’, Hummels 60’

Allianz Arena – 69,000

Sir Alex Ferguson is not the only one who plays mind games; FCB president, Uli Hoeness, said this week concerning Dortmund, "(Against Dortmund), I expect a clear victory. I can totally rule out a draw or a defeat. We are the better team and Dortmund have no chance against us, and that is that. We will win by two goals.” This was the game of the weekend. The first half was frenetic; end to end action with three goals within ten minutes. In the second half, Bayern came out a little more cautious. They simply could not build momentum. Dortmund did not have this problem, and this is the compelling aspect of Dortmund. They never look intimidated by their opponents, and you get the sense that BVB have the confidence to play their game regardless of the opposition. Sahin is the player of the season in the Bundesliga (asKicker Magazine attests), and played a more critical role for BVB than Schweinsteiger did for FCB (A player that I feel is up among the world’s best at his position). Dortmund extended their lead to two goals (maybe that is what Hoeness meant??) by a thundering header after an hour played. That same hesitancy the Bavarians began the second half with they finished with.

* This was Dortmund’s first win in Munich in 20 years. In his post match interview Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp noted that this would mean most of Dortmund’s players were still breast-feeding when Dortmund last won in Munich.

* Dortmund, plain and simple, played like champions today, and find themselves 16 points ahead of last year’s champion Bayern, who drop to fourth after Hannover’s last minute win.

Werder Bremen v. Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2:2 (0:1)

Goal Scorers: Bremen – Kießling (OG) 82’ Prodl 90’; Leverkusen - Derdiyok 42’, Rolfes 67’

Weserstadion – 37,500

Such is Bremen’s luck that they found themselves down one nil at half. Tim Borowski should have put the hosts ahead early but scuffed a shot at Rene Adler’s net. He would later come off the pitch for a suspected concussion. For Bayer, on the other hand, there were flashes of brilliance in the first half with only one goal to show for it. Derdiyok’s header on 42 minutes was powerful and maybe highlighted more of Bremen’s shambolic defense. That shambolic defense was on display again when a failure to clear the ball fumbled to the captain, Rolfes, who clinically put the ball away. Big Impact himself, Michael Ballack, came on to finish the remaining twenty minutes. The Bremen captain, Mertesacker, made up for a little bit of his shocking defense by forcing an own goal by Kießling which led to Bremen’s first goal. The drama was far from ever. Bremen scored at the death to earn a draw.

 
FC Schalke 04 v. 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:1)

Goal Scorers: Schalke – Raul 52’; Nürnberg – Hegeler 37’

Veltins Arena – 61,431

This game highlighted the formation trend as of late – a solid emphasis on holding midfielders with a single striker up top. Schalke played Raul off the back of Huntelaar, and it looked cohesive at times. Nürnberg have the exciting Ekici who controls the middle of the park for Der Club. Both sides registered 16 shots on goal, and Schalke will wish they had converted more of their 56.2% possession into more goals.

1899 Hoffenheim v. 1. FSV Mainz 1:2 (0:1)

Goal Scorers: Hoffenheim – Alaba 83’; Mainz – Ivanschitz 23’, Soto 86’

Rhein Neckar Arena – 29,000

Unlike the above review, this match was more free-flowing with the 4-3-3 as the formation of choice. Hoffenheim were close to 60% possession on the day, but only registering 13 shots. Hoffenheim thought they could leave with a draw after Alaba drew Hoffenheim level on 83 minutes, but Soto broke the hearts at the Rhein Neckar with a go ahead goal at the death. It Is good to see Mainz playing well again. They are an exciting side to watch.

FC Köln v. Freiburg 1:0 (0:0)

Goal Scorers: Köln – Podolski 88’

Rheinenergie Stadium – 45,500

A drab 0-0 was rescued by “prinz Poldi” … 

There really was not much else to this game, well 5 yellow cards at least kept the referee busy (3 for Freiburg and 2 for Die Geißböcke (The Billy Goats)).

FC Kaiserslautern v. Hamburger SV 1:1 (1:0)

Goal Scorers: Kaiserslautern – Hlousek 18’; HSV – Jansen 54’

Fritz-Walter-Stadium – 46,000

A hard fought draw would be enough for these two clubs fighting at different ends of the table: HSV seeking to cement a European place while Kaiserslautern just want to stay in the top division. This was actually a pretty exciting encounter, if you like games with grit and tough tackles. The Brazilian Zé Roberto is still commanding on the pitch with 48/59 pass completion. HSV are finally starting to click and look like the typical HSV – flirt with success but end up failing.

St. Pauli v. Hannover 96 0:1 (0:0)

Goal Scorers: Hannover – Schulz 89’

Millerntor Stadium – 24, 487

St. Pauli just could not hold on to the draw. Hannover continues their surprise season with a late winner in the port city. This match had the typical derby environment where tackles were more prevalent than shots on target (St. Pauli with 7, and the 96ers with 8). St. Pauli simply didn’t attack – only registering 14 crosses from open play (compared to 22 for Hannover). This snaps a run of decent form for St. Pauli (only their second loss of 2011), while Hannover remain four games undefeated.

Eintracht Frankfurt v. VfB Stuttgart 0:2 (0:0)

Goal Scorers: VfB – Harink 64’, Hajnal 68’

Commerzbank Arena – 47,400

As February comes to a close, Frankfurt has failed to register a win (let alone a goal) in 2011. Their slide down the table continued on Sunday. VfB, another relegation fighter, turned a game in which they were beaten in every attacking category (Eintracht had 18 goal attempts while VfB had only 7; ), and down to ten men after Delpierre’s 15^th minute red card, and scored twice within four minutes to put this game to bed.

VfL Wolfsburg v. Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:1 (2:0)

Goal Scorers: VfL – Diego 36’, 45+1’; gladbach – Daems 74’(PK)

Volkswagen Arena – 28,763

Relegation six pointer?! Such is the season VfL have had. However, on this night VfL looked decent. Diego had a chance to put his side up with a penalty after 28 minutes – but he missed (actually, his penalty … just… landed...). He regained his composure and scored twice before the break. Mönchengladbach brought the game within one, with Daems showing Diego how to make a penalty. Reus could have leveled on two separate occasions but saw his attempts go wide.  

 
Bundesliga Table after Matchday 24