Schalke 04 – Borussia Dortmund 2: 2 (0: 1), Goals: 0: 1 Nico Schlotterbeck (38′), 1: 1 Bülter (50′), 1: 2 Guerreiro (60′), 2:2 Karaman (79.)
In the 100th Bundesliga derby at arch-rivals FC Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund suffered a potentially decisive setback in the championship fight against FC Bayern. Despite clear superiority and a two-time lead, Dortmund’s winning streak broke after eight consecutive league successes in the 2-2 (1-0) win in Gelsenkirchen. Dortmund is now two points behind Bayern and the significantly worse goal difference, in the game after next they have to go to Munich for the summit meeting. It was the frustrating end to an emotional and disappointing week. Four days earlier, Borussia had lost 2-0 at Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League.
National defender Nico Schlotterbeck (37th) and Raphael Guerreiro (60th) gave Dortmund the lead twice. But Marius Bülter with the first Schalke derby goal in almost four years (50th) and Kenan Karaman with his first competitive goal for Schalke (79th) equalized twice. Curious: Schlotterbeck’s goal came at 7:09 p.m., BVB was founded in 1909. Schalke, who were unbeaten like BVB in the second half of the season, gave up last place to 1899 Hoffenheim, but TSG could overtake them again with a point on Sunday in Freiburg.
RB Leipzig – Borussia Monchengladbach 3: 0 (0: 0), Goals: 1: 0 Werner (58th), 2-0 Forsberg (71′, penalty kick), 3-0 Gvardiol (80′)
With a lot of force: Leipzig’s Timo Werner (middle) hits Borussia Mönchengladbach with a solid punch.
(Photo: Michael Taeger/Jan Huebner/Imago)
Hundreds of whistles clearly documented the atmosphere between RB and Gladbach in the Leipzig stadium. Borussia fans passionately served their souvenirs, the points of contact between the two clubs are well known: Leipzig’s sports director Max Eberl used to think little of RB before he moved after a creative break – the same applies to the former Gladbach coach Marco Rose. So Borussia met their past, so Eberl said: “You can’t really prepare for it”, it was “of course a special game for him, because I worked in Mönchengladbach for 23 years.” In the present it looked like RB was trying to dominate, but the guests were allowed to claim their moments.
For example, in the 52nd minute, when David Raum trotted behind Jonas Hofmann too late. VAR ordered a penalty but Alassane Plea shot so weakly that RB keeper Janis Blaswich was able to pin the ball. And so it was 1-0 for Leipzig when Timo Werner took advantage of a loss of possession by Gladbach in an unusually uncompromising manner: He thundered the ball under the bar and the whistles fell silent. A little more filigree was Emil Forsberg’s 2-0 penalty, which Plea had caused by fouling Amadou Haidara on his unlucky day. The 3-0 then stabbed Josko Gvardiol while Gladbach increasingly fell apart. So RB was not just the atmospheric winner that afternoon. Jonas Beckenkamp
Eintracht Frankfurt – VfB Stuttgart 1: 1 (0: 0), Gates: 1-0 Rode (55′), 1-1 Silas (75′)
His goal wasn’t enough for Eintracht against Stuttgart: Sebastian Rode, here high five with coach Oliver Glasner.
(Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa)
For the upcoming second leg in the Champions League round of 16 in Naples, there is still a little legal dispute, but in the Bundesliga home game against VfB Stuttgart it was clear: the Eintracht fans were allowed into the stadium. And for some reason there was no folder at the entrance to send them away again with the helpful hint “Please go on, there is nothing to see here”.
That would have been an apt summary of the first half. The Frankfurters had only managed one win in the last five competitive games, Stuttgart only one in the eight league games since Bruno Labbadia took office – and because what was happening on the lawn reflected exactly that, you had to have a sprint by Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo that led to nothing Selling Muani as a highlight before the break – Kolo Muani, by the way, will be missing in Napoli with a red suspension. Ten minutes after the break, however, the ball bounced happily at Sebastian Rode’s feet, who scored from the right into the top corner to make it 1-0 for Frankfurt. Suddenly there was still something to see, for example, substitute Silas’ equalizer to make it 1-1, and Enzo Millot, who was also a substitute, had a chance to turn the game around for Stuttgart. So both teams have to wait a little longer for the next win. Andrew Liebman
Hertha BSC – FSV Mainz 05 1:1 (1:0), Goals: 1-0 Ngankam (18′, penalty), 1-1 Ajorque (57′)
Not bad at all: Ludovic Ajorque (middle) scored the 1-1 for Mainz in Berlin.
(Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa)
Luck appears in football in a wide variety of guises. Sometimes dressed as a VAR – in the relegation battle you can’t be picky, Hertha BSC knows that too. When Mainz’s Leandro Barreiro accidentally touched a cross ball that had sailed through the air for a long time and only slightly with his hand in the penalty area, it didn’t bother anyone from Berlin at first. But there were also no objections from Hertha when referee Benjamin Cortus looked at the scene at the VAR’s notice and found it punishable. The penalty converted by Jessic Ngankam finally gave Hertha some oxygen in the breathtaking relegation battle.
Luck wore yellow afterwards. Tolcay Cigerci barely got away with that card after jumping straight-legged towards Barreiro’s ankles. After that, Fortuna had shown enough mercy with Hertha. Barreiro came on the scene again when he involuntarily set up the Mainz equalizer through Ludovic Ajorque (what a shot, by the way!). Hertha can still consider themselves lucky, because against these in-form Mainzers you can sometimes make ends meet with a 1-1 draw. Tim Brack