Schlager and Groß with goal premiere
In its last game before the winter break and the World Cup in Qatar, RB Leipzig made it, at least temporarily, into second place behind FC Bayern. Bayer Leverkusen continues its upward trend and Hertha BSC, VfL Bochum and VfL Wolfsburg also closed the Bundesliga year with victories.
Leipzig continues its successful run. Before the winter break, the Saxons celebrated their sixth competitive win in a row and inflicted the next defeat on Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga in the English week. In the Hanseatic League, Leipzig won 2-1 (1-0) on Saturday afternoon. The cup winners confirmed their excellent form in a fast-paced but balanced game. The club has won the twelfth of 16 games since coach Marco Rose took office. Before the game between SC Freiburg and Union Berlin and the game of Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, the Saxons moved up to second place in the table.
Both teams are currently among the most dangerous teams in the league. Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku (12 goals) and Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug (10), who was called up to the German national team’s World Cup squad on Thursday, are currently among the best shooters in the league.
Nkunku in front of Füllkrug and Thuram: The top scorers in the Bundesliga
But neither the French World Cup participant Nkunku nor Füllkrug scored a goal in front of 41,500 spectators in the Weser Stadium. Leipzig’s attacker André Silva (13th minute) gave Leipzig the lead with the first big chance by scoring in the penalty area without resistance. Christian Groß (57′) equalized from the edge of the penalty area with a deflected shot, his first ever goal in the Bundesliga. Xaver Schlager (71st), who scored for his new club for the first time, put Leipzig back in the lead and made the final score.
Bayer back on track: 2-0 over Stuttgart
Poor start to the season, successful finish: Bayer Leverkusen is back on the road to success after a long and worrying downturn. With a 2-0 (1-0) win over VfB Stuttgart, coach Xabi Alonso’s team achieved their third Bundesliga win in a row. Thanks to goals from Moussa Diaby (30th minute) and Jonathan Tah (82nd), the Werkself were spared another setback on Saturday in front of a sell-out crowd of 30,210 at the BayArena in the last game before the long World Cup break.
In contrast, the Swabians spend the winter near the relegation zone and also remained without a win in the 17th away game in a row in the Bundesliga and thus in the entire calendar year 2022 abroad. With his team’s appearance in Leverkusen, coach Michael Wimmer was only able to collect further arguments for a VfB future as head coach to a limited extent.
Bochum ended the misery away from home – 1-0 at FC Augsburg
Christopher Antwi-Adjei has ended VfL Bochum’s misery away from home in the Bundesliga. The 28-year-old let the Ruhrpott-Elf celebrate the first away points of the season in the 1-0 (0-0) win over FC Augsburg on Saturday. The victory brought Bochum to within two points of FCA, who missed a huge chance of a draw when Mergim Berisha missed a penalty two minutes after Bochum’s goal (60′).
In front of 28,011 spectators, some of whom called for a boycott of the World Cup with a large banner, things got down to business in the WWK Arena in a rustic manner and without any playful highlights. Lots of long balls, plenty of technical mistakes, but few chances to score or long periods of possession – it wasn’t a football treat.
Wolfsburg’s series lasts: Baku celebrates the winning goal in Hoffenheim
With the fourth win in a row, VfL Wolfsburg said goodbye to the long winter and World Cup break as a Europa League candidate. Coach Nico Kovac’s team landed a happy 2-1 (1-1) win at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in a chaotic Bundesliga game on Saturday. In front of just 18,014 spectators in the Sinsheim stadium, Christoph Baumgartner (42nd minute) gave the home side the lead. An own goal by Ozan Kabak (45th +5) and a goal by Ridle Baku (56th) plunged the Kraichgau even deeper into the crisis.
With this win, Wolfsburg, who have now been unbeaten in nine competitive games, distanced Hoffenheim to five points in the table. Under head coach André Breitenreiter, the again disappointing TSG managed only one win in the last nine games at bottom Schalke 04. It was also the fifth home game in a row without a threesome.
2-0 against Cologne: Hertha with victory in the winter break
Before the upcoming Bundesliga winter break, Hertha BSC eased concerns about the sporting situation a little by beating 1. FC Köln. After five unsuccessful attempts in the league, the Berliners were able to score three points again on the 15th matchday with a 2-0 (1-0) win against the Rhinelanders.
In a lively and at times agitated game, Wilfried Kanga put the hosts ahead in the ninth minute in front of 60,827 spectators in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. Nine minutes after the break, Marco Richter made it 2-0. Hertha goes into the World Cup break with 14 points, while Cologne have three points more without a win in five games.
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