Bundesliga Matchday 24: Werder Show Their True Face; Bayern Win, But at a Cost

Surprising Results

Werder 4:0 Stuttgart

Sami Khedira fouling Diego was the start of a horrible night for Stuttgart. Diego stepped up to take the freekick, firing coolly past Lehmann. A headed flick from Diego found Claudio Pizarro who shot beautifully and powerfully to give Bremen a 2-0 lead.

The third goal came via Markus Rosenberg who went past Ricardo Osorio and put the ball past Lehmann. He also scored the fourth, this time sending the ball over Lehmann to the back of the net.

Hertha Berlin 1:0 Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer are in big trouble after losing as their hopes for European qualification are given another blow. The club will definitely suffer financially if they are unable to qualify for Europe.

The hero was once again Andriy Voronin. Voronin is getting on every team’s nerves as his goals are keeping Hertha top. Bayern supporters will easily tell you what I mean….especially after their team was destroyed by him in Berlin.

Eintracht 1:1 Hoffenheim

Maybe Hoffenheim drawing are no longer a surprise. Carlos Eduardo opened the scoring after a superb through ball from Marvin Compper. The match was brought to level terms by Michael Fink when he headed the ball past Daniel Haas.

Hanover 4:4 Borussia Dortmund.
Dortmund love drawing games but usually do not end up in a 4-4 draw. Hanover putting four past Roman Weidenfeller is another surprise. The scoring was opened by an Alex Frei penalty. Florian Kringe added a second but Hanover equalized via Jiri Stajner and an Arnold Bruggink freekick.

In the second half, Dortmund struck twice in the space of three minutes through Frei and Kringe. However Mike Hanke scored through a header in the 80th minute. A penalty from Mikkel Forssell ensured that Dortmund left with only one point rather than three.

Table-Topping Results

Wolfsburg 4:3 Schalke

I would love to put this one up for the best match of the weekend but unfortunately Moenchengladbach stole that honour. Schalke opened the scoring via Heiko Westermann against the run of play. Grafite then hit back through a penalty after he was fouled by Krstajic.

Edin Dzeko then made it 2-1. Grafite was allowed to dance through the Schalke defence as Kobiashvilli and Benedikt Howedes were nowhere to be found. He passed to Dzeko who continued his good form in front of goal by shooting past stand-in keeper Mathias Schober.

Grafite then scored his second as he went coolly past Schober after good work from Misimovic. Despite not attacking at all, Schalke hit a second. Jermaine Jones fired in a Kevin Kuranyi pass.

A few minutes later, Grafite all but sealed the game with his hattrick. Kevin Kuranyi added Schalke’s third in injury time but at the end, Wolfsburg held out for an impressive win.

Vfl Bochum 0:3 Bayern

Bayern had the opportunity to waste a spot kick and still win. Podolski sent a penalty flying past the goal in the first half. Bayern’s first was scored by Ze Roberto. In the 31st minute, prior to the goal, Klose hobbled off after taking a knock to his ankle and Jose Sosa came on.

Bayern added a second in the second half through the incredible Philipp Lahm who dribbled past the defenders before shooting in style after receiving a pass from Schweinsteiger.

Bayern were playing against 10 men at this point as Marc Pfertzel was sent off for a challenge on Jose Sosa. Bayern added a third when Lukas Podolski sent a wonderful ball to Demichellis who rightly scored from ten metres out.

Hamburg 2:0 Cottbus

Olic is the man Bayern need at the moment due to their striker crisis. However, he is still in Hamburg and he gave them the lead via a header. The extremely talented Piotr Trochowski then fired in a freekick in the second half to send Cottbus into the relegation zone.

The Derby and THE MATCH

Köln 2:4 Borussia Moenchengladbach

Previously Gladbach were relegation favourites, now staying up is a possibility for them. Michael Bradley opened the scoring for Gladbach after good work by Marko Marin and Karim Matmour doubled the lead. Miso Brecko pulled one back before the break for Koeln.

After the restart however, Rob Friend added a third. Miso Brecko again scored but a Michael Bradley freekick ensured the three points for Gladbach.

Other Matches

Karlsruher SC 0:1 Arminia Bielefeld

Zlatko Janjic scored in the 84th minute to give Bielefeld the win.

The top five this week are

1. Hertha Berlin :49
2. FC Bayern Munchen: 45 (GD: 21)
3. VfL Wolfsburg: 45 (GD:18)
4. Hamburger SV (GD:2)
5. Hoffenheim 43

News

Bayern have a serious striker problem. Miroslav Klose, the focus of Bayern’s attack is out for four to eight weeks. Klose tore a tendon in his knee in the match against Bochum.

Initially, it was feared that he might be out for the season, but thankfully for Bayern and all its supporters (including me), he will or rather should be back by the end of April or beginning of May.

He will miss Germany’s coming World Cup Qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales. He will most likely be out for both legs of the Champions League quarter finals.

Luca Toni is recovering from an Achilles' tendon and might make it next weekend but nothing is confirmed yet. Podolski at the moment is Bayern’s only fit striker. This is a serious blow for Bayern and for Klose. Let’s not forget, Ribery, Altintop, and Borowski are also still out with injury.

Andreas Muller was finally sacked by Schalke and it looks like it’s time for Fred Rutten to go as well.

Grafite’s hat trick against Schalke took him to seventeen goals, one behind Ibisevic. The fight for the Bundesliga Cannon is between him, Helmes and Gomez.

Gladbach are upto 16th after their impressive win. Michael Bradley is in great form.

Bayern beat Sporting 7-1 and 12-1 on aggregate as you all know in the Champions League. There is not much to say about the match. Bayern could even afford to be sluggish at times as they broke down Sporting’s hapless defence with relative ease.

Miro Klose went upto seven goals in the Champions League after scoring through a penalty and is tied for top scorer of the Champions League.

Hamburg drew 1-1 against Galatasaray in the UEFA Cup. Marcell Jansen had to equalize to give Hamburg a lifeline. Galatasaray were down to 10 men for most of the second half. Hamburg were playing at home.

Werder will be taking a narrow advantage to France after Naldo scored against Saint Etienne in the first leg.

FC Köln captain Umit Ozat has announced his retirement due to heart problems, seven months after collapsing on the pitch.

Mladen Petric is out for Hamburg after injuring himself against Cottbus.

Werder's win against Stuttgart was it's first after the winter break while Stuttgart's loss was it's first under Markus Babbel.

Well, that’s about it for this week. I will end with a quote from Franck Ribery:

"Staying or leaving? I don't reply to that question anymore. I am enjoying life at Bayern and I feel fine here."