Draw in Heidenheim
©IMAGO
Second game, second win, without conceding a goal for the second time – and with an absolute emergency defense: Borussia Dortmund started the year 2024 and the planned race to catch up to the Champions League places with two clear away wins against relegation candidates. A week after the 3-0 win at Darmstadt 98, BVB also won 4-0 (1-0) at the penultimate 1. FC Köln at the start of the second half of the season. FC coach Timo Schultz had a disappointing start after last week’s 1-1 draw against Heidenheim with one point from two home games. His team acted bravely, but far too harmlessly.
Donyell Malen (12th/61st minute), Niclas Füllkrug (58th, penalty kick) and Youssoufa Moukoko (90th + 2) secured BVB a deserved, but too big, victory. Remarkable: Despite acute personnel problems in defense with the failures of Mats Hummels and Emre Can before the game as well as Niklas Süle at the break, the runner-up remained without conceding a goal in the second game of the year. 19-year-old Hendry Blank celebrated his professional debut.
SC Freiburg wins against TSG Hoffenheim when they are outnumbered
Thanks to Vincenzo Grifo and Roland Sallai, SC Freiburg secured the home win they had hoped for at the start of the second half of the season. The sports club won the entertaining Baden duel with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3:2 (1:0) on Saturday and thus maintained their place in the European Cup. In his 250th competitive game for Freiburg, Grifo shone as the preparer for Lucas Höler’s goal (36th) and as the goalscorer. With a fine move, the offensive player made it 2-0 (55th) in front of 33,600 spectators.
In the turbulent second half, however, that wasn’t enough for success: Wout Weghorst (57′) and Maximilian Beier (77′) equalized the score. But Sallai still let the hosts celebrate (85th). Shortly before, defender Manuel Gulde had seen yellow-red for SC (82′). With their success, Freiburg extended their lead in the table over their Baden rivals to four points.
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Eintracht Frankfurt lost an away win at SV Darmstadt
Eintracht Frankfurt gave up victory in a disjointed Hessen derby against SV Darmstadt 98. Coach Dino Toppmöller’s team lost a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 (1-0) draw at the bottom of the table. In front of 17,550 spectators in the sold-out stadium at Böllenfalltor, Niels Nkounkou (33rd) and Ansgar Knauff (51st) scored the goals for the guests. One day after his signing was announced, Julian Justvan scored for the promoted team (62′), before Christoph Klarer scored the surprising equalizer in stoppage time (90’+5).
Head coach Torsten Lieberknecht’s “Liliens” have been without a win for eleven games. and still only have eleven points after 18 match days. Midfielder Justvan, on loan from TSG Hoffenheim, was in the starting line-up for the Darmstadt team. Toppmöller trusted the same starting line-up as in the 1-0 win in Leipzig – and took captain Sebastian Rode back into the squad. The 33-year-old was missing for months due to a persistent calf injury and came on in stoppage time.
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VfL Wolfsburg can’t get off the ground: a draw at 1. FC Heidenheim
VfL Wolfsburg is stuck in mediocrity and is increasingly losing touch with the European places. Coach Niko Kovac’s team couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-1) draw at 1. FC Heidenheim at the start of the second half of the season and remains behind the strong newcomers in the table. In front of 15,000 spectators in the sold-out stadium, a goal from Vaclav Cerny (7th) was not enough for the victory VfL longed for.
Heidenheim, on the other hand, has scored eleven points from the last five games and, as a league debutant, is heading for a confident stay in the league. An own goal by Moritz Jenz (45th + 2) brought Frank Schmidt’s team equalizer in sub-zero temperatures, two other supposed goals were disallowed for offside. In the fifth competitive duel with Wolfsburg, Heidenheim did not leave the field as a loser for the first time.
VfL Bochum beats VfB Stuttgart: The game was interrupted for a long time
In the game between VfL Bochum and VfB Stuttgart, the restart was delayed after half-time. Because visiting fans had blocked escape gates and escape routes with fence flags, referee Bastian Dankert initially did not continue the game after the break when the score was 0-0. Only after a delay of around 40 minutes could things finally continue. Bochum won the game 1-0 and the Swabians suffered their second defeat in 2024.
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