FC Schalke 04 – SV Werder Bremen 1: 1 (0: 1), Goals: 0: 1 Marvin Ducksch (18th), 1: 1 Sepp van den Berg (81st), 2: 1 Dominick Drexler (90th + 2)
The situation was serious before the game: Due to the victory of VfB Stuttgart and the extremely difficult remaining program with three away games in Mainz, Munich and Leipzig (and a home game against Frankfurt), FC Schalke 04 actually had to win this home game against Bremen to still hope to stay in the class. And when Dominick Drexler first prevented Bremen’s winning goal with a block action in added time and shortly afterwards scored the 2-1 for Schalke himself – the arena shook accordingly.
From the Royal Blues’ point of view, the game started off extremely unluckily, as Bremen took advantage of their first chance to take the lead. After losing the ball, the North Germans combined through the disorderly Schalke defense, Marvin Ducksch scored again in the absence of top scorer Niclas Füllkrug. Schalke came out of the dressing room with courage, Werder goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka parried a hard long-range shot from Marius Bülter, then Tom Krauss hit the crossbar. But only substitute Sepp van den Berg, who had been out injured since October, scored the equalizer that made the whole stadium tremble. And after Drexler’s winning goal, all the Blues hugged each other. Schalke still have to get points from the remaining four games. But the hope, it still flies through the air in the north of Gelsenkirchen.
VfB Stuttgart – Borussia Mönchengladbach 2: 1 (1: 0), Goals: 1: 0 Serhou Guirassy (22nd), 1: 1 Julian Weigl (78th, penalty kick), 2: 1 Tanguy Coulibaly (83rd, penalty kick)
Before the game, Fabian Wohlgemuth, sporting director of VfB Stuttgart, said about Serhou Guirassy: “In the last few games you saw how important he is for us.” On Saturday against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wohlgemut received the next proof of that. After a corner, Gladbach couldn’t get the ball away, the ball landed at Guirassy, who scored the 1-0 with a heel. The goal in the 22nd minute was checked for offside – but then marked the cornerstone for the fourth game without defeat under coach Sebastian Hoeneß.
Neither team could make anything useful out of the next chances until the game got weird. After a handball by Dan-Axel Zagadou, Gladbach received a penalty, which Julian Weigl converted to make it 1-1. The VfB supporters didn’t have to mourn the supposedly lost victory for very long. Because just two minutes later, Tiago Tomas went down in a duel with Kō Itakura – and there was the next penalty. The VAR reviewed that scene as well, Itakura was sent off – and Tanguy Coulibaly easily scored to make it 2-1. Thanks to the first home win since mid-February, Stuttgart have now slipped to 15th place and staying in the class seems more likely again.
RB Leipzig 1-0 TSG Hoffenheim (1-0), Goal: 1-0 Christopher Nkunku (28′)
Unsurprisingly, Leipzig, still aspiring to a place in the Champions League, was the much better team. Christopher Nkunku in particular was repeatedly served at the top. After tearing a muscle fiber in his left thigh, the French striker was fit enough to start in the XI for the first time since Matchday 23. Nkunku missed a first big chance, but in the 27th minute he picked up a pass from Emil Forsberg in a sprint and put the ball in the bottom right with a left-footed shot. Hoffenheim, who are fighting against relegation, attracted attention with two or three passable offensive actions, but seemed harmless.
In the second half, Hoffenheim tried a different attitude, stood higher, attacked Leipzig in their half of the game and tried to attack the hosts. However, TSG hardly acted dangerously. Munas Dabbur once attracted attention with a flick from 20 meters. Aware of the narrow lead, RB intensified its efforts forward, but nothing countable came out. At least Hoffenheim defended solidly, but of course the defeat didn’t ease the tense situation in the table one bit. Leipzig remains in the race for a Champions League participation after the win.
1.FC Union Berlin – Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:0
The big question before this game was: Which force is the greater? Union Berlin’s colossal strength at home, which has not yet allowed any Bundesliga club to win three points at the Alte Försterei this season? Or Leverkusen’s almost creepy form high, the last defeat was on February 19th? The answer: Both are the same size, they almost completely neutralized each other.
Both showed respect for their opponents, the only surprise was that Union was the more offensive team at the beginning. Leverkusen countered in the 17th minute via Florian Wirtz and Moussa Diaby. In the second half, too, one was inevitably reminded of the World Chess Championship taking place at the same time, in which two strategic grandmasters named Xabi Alonso and Urs Fischer agreed on a draw after a great fight. If you want to look for the hair in the soup, it’s a small disadvantage for Union, since the Köpenickers are actually playing for the Champions League. And the two competitors from Leipzig and Freiburg have won their games.
1. FC Cologne – SC Freiburg 0: 1 (0: 0), Goal: 0: 1 Ritsu Doan (54th)
1. FC Köln once again presented themselves as a team that demanded a lot from their fans. On the one hand, she inspired with good football, i.e. many goal-oriented, energetic actions. On the other hand, a number of best opportunities remained unused. First Davie Selke, then Florian Kainz and Linton Maina could have taken the lead from promising positions. After a collision between Cologne’s Eric Martel and Vincenzo Grifo, both lay dazed and the game was stopped, but after treatment on the sidelines, the two returned to the field.
Freiburg, in the first half with rather gray-mousy football, proved their ripped-off style of play right at the beginning of the second half. Lucas Höler extended a Grifos corner kick with his head, Ritsu Doan lurkingly dusted off the second post. Then, how cool can you be, the SC simply withdrew again, remained only sporadically venomous with isolated advances and otherwise gave the Cologne team the dubious pleasure of repeatedly bouncing off the Freiburg defense. They let the Rhinelanders run into nothing. With the third win in a row, the people of Breisgau underlined their ambitions for a place in the Champions League. Despite the defeat, Cologne can look forward to the last games of the season relatively calmly.
Eintracht Frankfurt – FC Augsburg 1: 1, (1: 0), Goals: 1-0 Elvis Rexhbecaj (25′, own goal), 1-1 Ermedin Demirovic (58′).
It’s actually fascinating that the Frankfurt crash – and you can hardly call it anything else – is not yet a big issue outside of Hesse. The Champions League participant has not won nine Bundesliga games in a row, and qualifying for the premier class has become practically impossible. Oliver Glasner’s team sits in a mold hole, lower than the bank towers on the Main are high. And then the best striker was missing against Augsburg: Kolo Muani had adductor problems.
The game looked accordingly: A brutally tough affair with the right goal. Frankfurt’s Buta broke through on the right side, Elvis Rexhbecaj unluckily straddled the cross pass – own goal. And the equalizer also fitted perfectly: Frankfurt acted far too passively, both in general and specifically in the following situation. Ruben Vargas played the free Ermedin Demirovic, who made it 1-1 with an elegant turn. The bottom line is a point that helps Augsburg a bit more, but still doesn’t free the Bavarian Swabians from the horror of the relegation battle. It is three points away from the relegation place. And Frankfurt? Can fully concentrate on the DFB Cup, on Wednesday we go to Stuttgart for the semi-finals.