Bundesliga Matchday 27: Wolfsburg at the Summit Despite Bayern Onslaught

Surprising Results:

Hanover 2:0 Hertha Berlin

In all honesty, most people may be shocked but I am not. Hanover are almost unbeatable at home, and have salvaged all their points at home, with only one point from away games. Mike Hanke scored the first goal and Arnold Bruggink, the man on form, scored the second.

Hertha are now slipping up and may be left battling for a UEFA Europa League spot. Hertha’s frustration really showed when Voronin kicked an opponent towards the end to earn a straight red and most probably a three-week ban.

Hoffenheim 0:3 Vfl Bochum

Yes, your eyes are not fooling you. The Hoff, who were maybe thinking about the title at the winter break, lost 3-0 at home to a relegation-threatened side. Carlos Eduardo received a red card in the 59^th minute and keeper Daniel Haas was shown another in the 61^st minute. Bochum made the two-men advantage count. Stanislav Sestak scored a hattrick to give his side some hope of staying up.

Bayer Leverkusen 1:1 Werder Bremen

I had expected Bremen to win, but Bayer proved me wrong. However, this result does no good to either side as both sides are stuck in mid-table mediocrity. A first half header from Tranquillo Barnetta was cancelled out by the ever-reliable Claudio Pizarro, giving both sides only a point.

Morale-boosting Result:

Bayern 4:0 Eintracht

Wolfsburg made a fool of Bayern and Barcelona made them look like amateurs. Bayern needed to vent their frustration on an opponent and they chose Eintracht.

Individual brilliance resulted in the first goal from Ribery. It was quite similar to Marcos Senna’s goal in the Champions League against Arsenal. Van Bommel picked the relatively unmarked Ribery out who gave it a go, easily sending it to the back of the net. He celebrated by showing a “5” drawn on his hand to the crowd. Bayern’s No: 5, Daniel Van Buyten’s father is sick and the gesture was one of support from Ribery to his close friend.

The second goal came via Toni. An excellent free-kick delivery from Ribery found Toni who volleyed it beautifully into the back of the net. The third belonged to Lucio. Schweinsteiger’s excellent delivery found Lucio unmarked on the edge of the box. Lucio made no mistake and headed it in.

The fourth was due to Sosa’s vision. Sosa picked out Toni, who after battling against two defenders shot directly at the keeper. The keeper could only push it out for Schweini who made no mistake, passing the ball into an empty net.

Energie 2:1 Bielefeld

Cottbus are relegation-battlers and found some breathing space after this win. Dimitar Rangelov opened the scoring for Energie while Vlad Munteanu equalized. Stanislav Angelov then scored the winner for Energie.

Schalke 2:0 Karlsruher

Kevin Kuranyi scored the first goal continuing his recent good form in front of goal. Apparently Bremen and Blackburn are chasing him. Farfan added a second to send Schalke within a point of Hoffenheim. Nobody should count Schalke out from getting a place in Europe, at least not yet.

Table topping Results:

Borussia Dortmund 3:1 Köln

Dortmund are closing down on a European spot after their third successive win. Nemanja Vucicevic opened the scoring for Köln only for another player who is on form, Nelson Valdez to equalize. Tamas Hajnal then put Dortmund in the lead and Pedro Geromel’s own goal added a third for the home side.

Borussia Moenchengladbach 1:2 Wolfsburg

A prospect of a trip to Borussia Park is quite daunting at times. Hamburg and Werder both know that. So do Bayern. Diego Benaglio saved from Alex Baumjohann and Karim Matmour early in the game before seeing his side take the lead from an Edin Dzeko header. The assist of the goal belonged to none other than Zvejdan Misimovic.

Gladbach then equalized after a freekick from Marko Marin was headed in by Dante.

With only five minutes of regulation time left, Sasha Riether scored the winner after Gladbach failed to close down Wolfsburg in their penalty area.

THE MATCH:

Stuttgart 1:0 Hamburg

The match may have had only one goal in it, but it had plenty of action. Both sides failed to find the back of the net, with both Ivica Olic and Dennis Aogo hitting the bar. Julian Shcieber also hit the bar for Stuttgart. Late into the match, Thomas Hitzlsperger fired a cross he received goal ward only for Frank Rost to push it out. Gomez took full advantage and fired into the back of the net, giving Stuttgart the match.

The top five of this week are:

Wolfsburg- 54

Bayern – 51 (GD: +22)

Hamburg- 51 (GD: +2)

Hertha Berlin- 49

Stuttgart- 48

News:

Bayern will be able to play Lucio, Lahm and maybe even Van Buyten against Barcelona. The first leg ended 4-0 to the Catalan giants.

Hamburg will be paying a trip to Eastlands on Thursday to take on Man City while Werder will be traveling to Italy to play Udinese. Hamburg and Werder both won the first leg at home, 3-1. Diego is a doubt for Werder’s second leg.

Edin Dzeko is apparently also being checked out by AC Milan apart from the English clubs. His teammate Cristian Zaccardo is attracting interest from Lazio and Sampdoria after spending most of his time on the Wolves’ bench.

Jens Lehmann has surprisingly praised Manuel Almunia, saying that the keeper is having a wonderful season at Arsenal.

Rahim Ayew will be signing for Hoffenheim after passing a medical.

Joel Epalle suffered an injury while playing for Bochum against the Hoff.

That’s all for this week. Bayern are up to second and that means their supporters can get some rest, till next week.