Bundesliga 20th matchday
Berlin (AP) – After the cup, Borussia Dortmund initially reduced the gap in the Bundesliga to FC Bayern to three points with maximum efficiency.
BVB won 3-2 (1-1) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday. The ailing Borussia from Mönchengladbach, on the other hand, suffered a 1-2 (1-1) defeat at home against European Cup contenders 1. FC Union, which should not calm the situation around coach Adi Hütter. The Iron climbed to fourth place – where Gladbach would like to be. In the entertaining evening game, VfL Bochum and 1. FC Köln drew 2:2 (1:2).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen also managed an important victory in the fight for a place in the Champions League. The Werkself secured third place with a 5-1 (2-0) win over FC Augsburg. And the Sport-Club Freiburg also fed the international desires and climbed to fifth place behind Union with a 2-0 (1-0) victory in the state derby against VfB Stuttgart. At the bottom of the table, promoted SpVgg Greuther Fürth managed their second win of the season against FSV Mainz on matchday 20 with a 2-1 (1-0) win.
TSG with poor exploitation of chances, BVB efficient
For ten minutes it looked really good what BVB did. The lead by Erling Haaland (6th) – his 56th goal in the 57th BVB game – fitted into the picture accordingly. Only then did TSG practically play, but the Kraichgauers didn’t make the most of their chances in the duel of the disappointed cup. With the goal of vice world champion Andrej Kramaric – the Croatian’s 100th for TSG – in added time in the first half, Borussia were still well served. At least Borussia earned a star for efficiency, because captain Marco Reus scored in the 58th minute with BVB’s second chance to make it 2-1. After an own goal by Hoffenheim’s David Raum (66th), Georginio Rutter (77th) brought the hosts closer again. But BVB won.
It’s not enough for Gladbach to build up a victory, on the contrary. Max Kruse scored for Union in the 18th minute with a hand penalty and in the 84th minute from the game. Kouadio Koné (40th) had raised hopes of a Gladbach sense of achievement again. Instead, the game ended with the seventh defeat in the past nine games for the Hütter team.
After the bitter cup defeat on penalties against Hamburger SV, the Cologne team was denied the sense of achievement they had hoped for. Coach Steffen Baumgart’s team had to settle for a lucky draw in Bochum. Timo Hübers (36′) and Anthony Modeste (45′) scored for Cologne, Bochum’s goalscorers Gerrit Holtmann (25′) and Takuma Asano (70′) made it 2-2.
After two draws in the BayArena, Leverkusen got the win they were aiming for. And how! Karim Bellarabi scored in the ninth minute, fifteen minutes later Moussa Diaby increased, before he found the spot twice in the second half (65’/70′) and Lucas Alario (81′) completed the goal. For Augsburg, two series continued despite Arne Maier’s goal (62nd): Also in the 15th attempt in Leverkusen no win, and currently five games without a win in the league. The receipt: crash into the relegation zone.
Freiburg dominates the southwest derby
Reaching the DFB Cup quarter-finals was good for Freiburg again. After the last 1:5 in the league against BVB, the Breisgauer dominated the southwest derby – even if an own goal by Hiroki Ito in the 37th minute provided the lead. In the second half of the game, Kevin Schade (71st) made it 2-0. VfB remained without a win or a goal in the fifth game in a row and is deep in the relegation battle.
The Mainz head coach Bo Svensson had to suffer with a yellow card suspension. After just 12 minutes, his side, who were being looked after on the touchline by Svensson’s assistant Babak Keyhanfar, fell behind to a Jeremy Dudziak goal. After three draws, an own goal by Stefan Bell in the 66th minute sealed the promoted team’s second win of the season and Mainz’s fifth away defeat in a row. Karim Onisiwo’s goal came too late in injury time.