Leverkusen wins in Frankfurt
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Thanks to a brace from Andrej Kramaric, TSG Hoffenheim is in the fight for the Champions League places on matchday 20. RB Leipzig loses contact with Kraichgauer for the time being due to a 1-2 defeat against Mainz 05. The Red Bulls’ turn is Bayer Leverkusen, who celebrated a 3-1 away win at Eintracht Frankfurt. FC Augsburg won an important three points against FC St. Pauli. Werder Bremen and Borussia Mönchengladbach shared the points.
Hoffenheim is at least temporarily level on points with second-placed Borussia Dortmund. In front of just 19,341 spectators in Sinsheim, Kramaric opened the scoring 3-1 (2-0) against 1. FC Union Berlin with a penalty (42nd minute) and a header (45th). It was the Kraichgauer’s fifth win in the fifth game of the year. The Iron had to accept an own goal from Diogo Leite (47th). Rani Khedira scored the Union goal (71st). A week after the 3-0 defeat against BVB, coach Steffen Baumgart’s team suffered the next setback against a top team and is still waiting for the first three points in 2026.
Meanwhile, Mainz 05 surprisingly won 2-1 (1-1) at RB Leipzig and gave the Champions League aspirants their next setback against a relegation candidate. Especially since Mainz had to accept a possibly serious injury to Benedict Hollerbach, who was carried off the pitch in the early stages.
Conrad Harder (40′) headed Leipzig into the lead, Nadiem Amiri (45’+6) equalized with a penalty kick. Silas (49th), who came on as a substitute for Hollerbach, scored a remarkable goal for the guests and turned the game around. In front of 35,487 fans, Mainz temporarily climbed out of the relegation zone with the win, Leipzig has now been without a home win against Mainz since January 2022.
Eintracht Frankfurt also loses the last game before Riera starts
Eintracht Frankfurt also lost the last game before new coach Albert Riera took office. Due to the 1:3 (0:2) in the Bundesliga against Bayer Leverkusen, the Hessians have been waiting for a three-pointer for eight competitive games.
A double strike from Arthur (26th) and Malik Tillman (33rd) ensured the guests took a comfortable lead. Eintracht captain Robin Koch only managed the next goal (50th) in front of 59,000 spectators. In the final phase, Eintracht weakened with a yellow-red card for Ellyes Skhiri himself (71st) and then had to accept the third goal by Aleix García (90th +3).
While Eintracht gradually threatens to lose touch with the European Cup ranks, Leverkusen confirmed their place in the top third of the table. In addition, after three wins in a row across all competitions, they seem to be prepared for the quarter-finals in the DFB Cup against FC St. Pauli on Tuesday (8:45 p.m./ZDF and Sky).
Returnee Gregoritsch makes FC Augsburg cheer
Returnee Michael Gregoritsch gave FC Augsburg their next important victory a week after the surprise coup in Munich. The 31-year-old Austrian was the celebrated match winner with his brace in the 2-1 (1-1) win against FC St. Pauli. With the hard-fought success in coach Manuel Baum’s 100th Bundesliga game, the Augsburg team (22 points) were able to increase their lead over the second-to-last in the table to a reassuring eight points in the relegation battle.
St. Pauli remains winless in the second half of the season. Coach Alexander Blessin’s team, which even took the lead thanks to a controversial penalty from Danel Sinani (32nd), failed due to their catastrophic use of opportunities. As in the 2-1 win against FC Bayern, Augsburg once again turned a deficit.
Joker Topp saves Werder Bremen a point
A late goal from Keke Topp slowed Werder Bremen’s crisis at least a little. The substitute striker scored a remarkable shot in the fourth minute of added time on Saturday to make it 1-1 (0-0) against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The table is 14th. They have now been without a win in the Bundesliga for ten games. And the discussions about the hapless coach Horst Steffen continue in Bremen. But at least the tireless running after the surprising 0-1 by Haris Tabakovic (62nd) was rewarded in the end.
