20th Bundesliga matchday
BVB makes it exciting; Fürther signs of life – Ex-Gladbacher Kruse shocked the foals
Dortmund’s Erling Haaland (left) and Hoffenheim’s Chris Richards fight for the ball
© Uwe Anspach / DPA
On matchday number 20, BVB had the chance to close the gap on leaders Bayern Munich at least until Sunday. Borussia Mönchengladbach could not stop its negative run.
Bayer Leverkusen – FC Augsburg 5:1
Champions League contenders Bayer Leverkusen extended their impressive run against FC Augsburg thanks to a hat-trick by Moussa Diaby and successfully defended third place in the table. The Werkself won 5-1 (2-0) and remain undefeated in their 24th competitive game against Augsburg. After five consecutive games without a win, the guests are slipping deeper and deeper into the relegation battle and have fallen back to 16th place in the table. In front of 750 spectators in the BayArena in Leverkusen, Karim Bellarabi (4th minute) scored three times, Diaby (24th/65th/69th) and Lucas Alario (81st) for the hosts, who celebrated the second three points in a row. Arne Maier (62nd) scored for the guests.
Borussia Monchengladbach – Union Berlin 1:2 Adi Hütter, head coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach, leaves the field after the defeat against 1. FC Union Berlin © Lukas Schulze / Getty Images
Borussia Mönchengladbach and coach Adi Hütter suffered the next setback in the 1: 2 (1: 1) against Union Berlin. With the only two chances to score in the Köpenicker game, former Gladbacher Max Kruse (18th minute/penalty and 84th) shot the staid guests to an undeserved victory. Gladbach did not reward themselves for a convincing and committed performance this time and only managed to equalize in the meantime through Manu Koné (40th). It is unclear whether Hütter will still be coach of Borussia after the seventh defeat from the past nine competitive games in the next game at Arminia Bielefeld on February 5. Sports director Max Kruse is ill and was unable to provide any information on the situation on Saturday. Despite the improved performance, the Gladbachers are not moving in the table and remain in midfield with 22 points.
Greuther Furth – Mainz 05 2: 1
Driven by Jeremy Dudziak, SpVgg Greuther Fürth clinched their second win of the season against FSV Mainz 05 with temporary boss Babak Keyhanfar. Before the eyes of the suspended box guest Bo Svensson, the bottom of the table remained undefeated for the fourth time in a row with a 2-1 (1-0) win – the Franconians have never had that in the Bundesliga. Dudziak gave Fürth the lead in the 12th minute. After the break, the attacking player forced an own goal through Stefan Bell (66′). Dudziak thus continued Fürth’s upward trend and at the same time made Mainz’s fifth away defeat in a row perfect. Shortly before the end, Karim Onisiwo (90 + 3) shortened completely free-standing with a header.
SC Freiburg – VfB Stuttgart 2:0 Kevin Schade from SC Freiburg celebrates after his team’s second goal in the Bundesliga game against VfB Stuttgart © Christian Kaspar-Bartke / Getty Images
VfB Stuttgart has set a negative club record in the Bundesliga. Due to the well-deserved 0:2 (0:1) in the southwest duel at European Cup contenders SC Freiburg, the unsettled team of coach Pellegrino Matarazzo remained without their own goal for the fifth time in a row. As tables-17. the gap to a non-relegation zone is three points. Thanks to an own goal by Hiroki Ito (37th) and a goal by Kevin Schade (71st), the Freiburgers continued their performance in the 4-1 round of 16 win in the DFB Cup at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday and moved back up to fifth rank above. In front of only 500 spectators in the Europa-Park stadium due to corona, they scored their first league win in the new calendar year.
TSG Hoffenheim – Borussia Dortmund 2: 3
Four days after losing the DFB Cup, Borussia Dortmund quickly made amends and kept its chances in the championship race of the Bundesliga. On matchday 20, BVB won 3-2 (1-1) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and thus kept the big gap to the pursuers in the fight for the Champions League. Super striker Erling Haaland (6th minute) and captain Marco Reus (58th) scored for BVB, who once again played a mixed game, where – unlike the 1-2 draw at FC St. Pauli – the result was right this time. There was also an own goal from Hoffenheim’s national player David Raum (66th). Meanwhile, a week of maximum failure is coming to an end for TSG. Coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team lost three times in eight days, the 2-1 loss at Union Berlin and the 4-1 draw against Freiburg in the cup were followed by a defeat against the league runners-up, who were up to three points behind the champions for one night FC Bayern Munich is approaching. Goals from Andrej Kramaric (45+1), who scored his 100th goal for TSG, and Joker Georginio Rutter (77) were not enough.