When Bruno Labbadia made his comeback, VfB only managed a draw. Frankfurt beat Schalke and jump into second place as Freiburg went down at Wolfsburg. Bochum cheered against Hertha in the basement. Cologne ended their winless streak impressively with seven goals.
Frankfurt’s Rafael Borré, Wolfsburg’s jubilation and VfB coach Bruno Labbadia.
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Cologne gala performance and Bremen gifts: FC finished off Werder 7:1
1. FC Köln delivered a spectacular game on Saturday evening – although Werder Bremen also played their part. Because after two early gifts from the Hanseatic League, the billy goats turned early on to the winning road through Maina (9th) and Tigges (15th). FC then played into a veritable frenzy of gaming, while all dams broke at SVW. Again Tigges (21st), Skhiri (30th) and Huseinbasic (36th) made it 5-0 before Bremen’s World Cup participant Füllkrug corrected the result in the 38th minute. The game was already decided after the first half, in the second half Bremen continued to be a generous guest: initially Skhiri was allowed to score the 6:1 (54th), completely free-standing, but also technically high-quality. And then SVW captain Friedl scored the goal to make it 7-1 himself.
Labbadia comeback only ends with a partial success
Bruno Labbadia celebrated his comeback on the coaching bench at VfB Stuttgart, but the Swabians initially didn’t do much against 1. FSV Mainz. The 05ers were the more active and offensive team, but VfB took the lead after 36 minutes through Guirassy. The jubilation didn’t last long, because the Rheinhessen equalized almost immediately through Ingvartsen (40′). The game went back and forth after the break with chances for both sides. But a goal didn’t want to come, so that VfB missed the hoped-for liberation at the restart.
Union turns game against Hoffenheim and keeps a clean sheet
Before the winter break, 1. FC Union remained undefeated in front of their home crowd (5/2/0) – this series also lasted at the start of the 2023 sporting year. But first, 1899 Hoffenheim took the lead in an attractive game at eye level: Bebou scored in the 43rd minute the 1-0 break lead for the Kraichgauer. The TSG showed the technically better game system, but the iron held back well. Jordan had bad luck in the 25th minute, the attacker failed from the point on the post. After the break, the Köpenicker put a shovel on it and created numerous chances – initially without profit. But the performance increase should still pay off for the capital city: Doekhi (73rd, 89th) turned the result, Leweling then put the lid on it 90th + 6).
Half a dozen: Ice cold wolves give Freiburg no chance
VfL Wolfsburg was wide awake after the long winter break: Less than 120 seconds had passed and Wimmer gave the Wolves the lead against SC Freiburg. The second in the table, where Grifo was missing due to an infection, shook himself briefly and then took the scepter in his hand. The goals came from the more efficient Lower Saxony, Wind made it 3-0 before the break with a brace (28th, 37th). The picture was the same after the break: Freiburg continued to take part in the game, but continued to make mistakes: Gerhardt (56′), Baku (80′) and Waldschmidt from the point (90′ + 4′) scored the 6-0 victory. With a big exclamation mark, Wolfsburg pushed Freiburg from second place.
Bochum cheers in the basement against Hertha
The basement duel of the 16th match day took place in Bochum, the penultimate VfL received Hertha, who took the last non-relegation place. The Berliners seemed to get off to a better start, but a goal by Tousart was conceded by VAR (13′). Bochum then came on better, Hofmann (22nd) and new signing Schlotterbeck (44th) made it 2-0 for the Revierklub before the break. The lead gave Bochum tailwind, Hofmann then made the preliminary decision with his second goal (56th). After that, little happened, Bochum brought the important three over time, Hertha still managed to score the consolation goal through Serdar (87th) – but nothing more, the capital city slip below the line.
Frankfurt prevails against courageous Schalke and is the first Bayern hunter
Eintracht Frankfurt had more trouble than expected with Schalke 04. The tail light presented itself for long stretches on an equal footing, even had more shots on goal (19:12) and more ball possession (56% to 44%) – and also struggled twice with aluminum pitch in the first half (Latza, 28th; Terodde, 32nd). The goal was scored by the Hessians, Lindström scored in the 22nd minute to take the lead 1-0 at the break. Schalke remained more active after the break, Kozuki almost carelessly missed the equalizer in the 47th minute. The SBU stood low, but then stabbed at the right moment: Borré (84th) and Buta (90th + 1) scored the Adlerträger with their goals to the 3-0 victory and thus second place.
