VfL Bochum – FC Schalke 04 0: 2 (0: 1), Goals: 0: 1 Manuel Riemann (45th, own goal), 0: 2 Marius Bülter (79th)
FC Schalke 04 is no longer bottom of the table. Since the eleventh matchday, the broom car called the second division has been lurking constantly and directly at the royal blue rear wheel – now they have overtaken VfL again. The team of coach Thomas Reis, who started the season as Bochum’s coach, then left in strife, switched to Schalke and was greeted accordingly unfriendly, has remained unbeaten for six games. Only Dortmund currently has an even better record.
The game began as one would expect from a small district derby: with crisp duels, bodies colliding and inaccurate passes. VfL missed the early lead, Philipp Hofmann maneuvered a sharp cross pass over the empty goal; Christopher Antwi-Adjei and Takuma Asano failed because of Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann. When nobody was expecting anything but sliding tackles from this first half, Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann flew past a Zalazar cross. The ball fell to the ground and in the general confusion, Riemann, irritated by his own defender Erhan Masovic’s attempt to clear, shoved the ball over the goal line himself. The second half was like the first – until Marius Bülter shot a well-rehearsed corner ball from the back into the Bochum goal and decided the game. The video assistant conceded the Bochum connection hit again because of offside.
1. FC Union Berlin – 1. FC Cologne 0-0
Cologne and Union separate goalless.
(Photo: Matthias Koch/Imago)
Both teams were on a mission to make amends: Cologne had clearly lost the last two games against Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, Union went down without a chance last Sunday in a showdown with Bayern for the top of the table. For FC coach Steffen Baumgart, a meeting with Union is always special – he was active for the Irons himself when he was a center forward. The first half was dominated by the two defenses. Apart from a shot by Cologne’s Dejan Ljubicic, who missed the goal by only centimeters after an exemplary counterattack, there were hardly any offensive actions worth mentioning.
After the break, the game became more attractive. The guests in particular pushed for the winning goal. But both Eric Martel, Florian Kainz and Jonas Hector failed because of the excellent Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow. So it ended up being a goalless draw. Although the Köpenickers also had a few chances, after the course of the game they should be much happier with the point than the guests from the cathedral city.
FSV Mainz 05 – TSG Hoffenheim 1:0 (1:0), Goal: 1-0 Leandro Barreiro (33′)
A goal worth three points: Leandro Barreiro (covert) scored here to make it 1-0 for Mainz.
(Photo: Harald Bremes/Imago)
New coaches are often credited with bringing a breath of fresh air to the ailing club. With Hoffenheim’s still quite fresh coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, however, there is rather no wind. Fourth game by Matarazzo, fourth bankruptcy. This is the sober record after TSG’s 0-1 draw in Mainz. There are now even seven defeats in a row for the North Badeners across all competitions. Their last win dates back to autumn, when the golden October sun was still shining over Hoffenheim (5-1 in the cup against Schalke).
Luxemburg’s Leandro Barreiro leads Hoffenheim onto the slippery slope this time, who in his 100th Bundesliga game gave himself the best present with a dust-off in the 33rd minute – and helped Mainz to the next three points. Barreiro continued to compete for the Most Conspicuous Player award. After a duel, he remained on the ground, was treated with an ice pack for minutes, and he also had a nosebleed. But that didn’t stop him from getting more chances later. Mainz also whirled at the end and were much, much closer to the second goal than Hoffenheim to a draw. Matarazzo is now in relegation place 16 with TSG.
Borussia Monchengladbach – SC Freiburg 0:0
Penalty or not?: The referee initially gave Gladbach a penalty, but later revised his assessment.
(Photo: Revierfoto/Imago)
SC Freiburg’s record in Gladbach wasn’t all that edifying, the Breisgauer have only won one of their last 18 guest appearances – albeit 6-0 in the first half of last season. After 25 minutes, Christian Streich’s team was already 5-0 up. This time it was 0-0 after 25 minutes, after 50 minutes too, even after 75 minutes no goals were scored, although there were a few chances (especially for Gladbach) and even a penalty for the home team after a foul on a striker Marcus Thuram had given. At least that’s what everyone thought about the penalty kick. However, the penalty was not awarded because the referee rightly revised his decision.
After 90 minutes it was still 0-0 under the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick. Probably with the guests, who would have returned to a Champions League place if they won, not only the Italian national player and ex-Gladbacher Vincenzo Grifo had his thoughts in the country where the lemons bloom: At Juventus Turin, where the SC will compete in the round of 16 first leg in the Europa League next Thursday. There were almost 30,000 ticket requests in Freiburg, 2,100 fans are officially only allowed to come along. As the local press found out, 1,500 other spectators found a small ticket loophole. They all hope for a few more goals than in Gladbach.
FC Augsburg – SV Werder Bremen 2: 1 (1: 1), Goals: 1-0 Dion Beljo (5th), 1-1 Jens Stage (16th), 2-1 Arne Maier (46th)
The FCA home series holds: Arne Maier (right) and Ermedin Demirovic celebrate the 2-1.
(Photo: Stefan Puchner/dpa)
The Augsburg points haul is currently distributed quite clearly: There is nothing to get away from home, but the home games are consistently won 1-0 – that’s how it was in the last seven Bundesliga games. And against Bremen, there are many early signs that this ping-pong game could continue. The home team took the lead in the fifth minute: Winter signing Dion Beljo plucked a nice punch out of the air, marched a few meters and hit the far corner with a struggling shot – the Croatian’s first Bundesliga goal.
Bremen equalized after a good quarter of an hour: FCA defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz produced a classic “You take him, I’ll have him for sure”, so that Leonardo Bittencourt’s harmless cross slipped through and Jens Stage headed into the empty goal from a standing start . The first half was characterized by many gross defensive errors, resulting in an entertaining game with plenty of opportunities – but no more goals were scored until the break.
FCA got off to a flying start after the restart: Arne Maier scored just inside the penalty area in the 46th minute to make it 2-1. Then Werder pushed for a goal, the FCA shifted to counterattack. Despite immense efforts by Bremen, nothing happened. What the defense didn’t prevent, Gikiewicz ironed out – the Augsburg away and home series remains.