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Bundesliga: Union is at the top for the time being – Dortmund continues to win

Borussia Dortmund – SC Freiburg 5:1 (1:1), Goals: 1:0 Nico Schlotterbeck (26th), 1:1 Lucas Höler (45th), 2:1 Karim Adeyemi (48th), 3:1 Sebastien Haller (51st), 4:1 Julian Brandt (69th ), 5:1 Giovanni Reyna (82.)

Experienced Dortmund fans know that it makes a very big difference wo her team meets SC Freiburg. Away games in the Black Forest are usually unrefreshing painful tours without points, after which there is usually a mentality discussion. Home games against Christian Streich’s team, on the other hand, are much more pleasant, there are usually a lot of goals, and after the game the current BVB coach has to answer the question of whether FC Bayern could be attacked after all.

This time there was a home game again and thus the second scenario. After 17 minutes, Borussia kicked with a majority, the young Kiliann Sildillia had received two yellow cards in two minutes, although it was possible to discuss whether the severity was really necessary. Depending on the club preference, you can answer the question differently. In any case, shortly afterwards ex-Freiburger Nico Schlotterbeck somehow found a free shot after a corner kick in the crowd from a very acute angle and scored the well-deserved lead. Marco Reus was back on the field at Borussia from the start – and was irritated when Lucas Höler scored the equalizer shortly before the break after a pinball insert between Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle with Freiburg’s very first chance.

It was just a brief incident. Karim Adeyemi after a head-through-the-wall dribble and Sebastien Haller’s header put the game back on track after just a few minutes. Haller was responsible for the history of the game: on World Cancer Day of all days, the striker, who had been out for the first half of the season due to testicular cancer, scored his first Bundesliga goal for Dortmund. BVB campaigned for prevention before the game. Also thanks to the late goals from Julian Brandt, who was rewarded for a strong performance, and Gio Reyna, Dortmund is again on par with FC Bayern for the time being. Christian Streich didn’t hear the final whistle – he was sent off after 76 minutes.

Eintracht Frankfurt – Hertha BSC 3: 0 (2: 0), Goals: 1: 0 and 2: 0 Randal Kolo Muani (21st, penalty kick, 28th), 3: 0 Aurelio Buta (90th + 3)

Double scorer: Kolo Muani

(Photo: KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS)

Maybe this game would have ended very differently if there had been a different decision in a scene after 19 minutes. Marco Richter shot in front of the penalty area, the ball flew in the direction of the goal to finally give Hertha a sense of achievement. The start of this year was extremely bad for the club in the capital. The team had traveled to Frankfurt with three defeats in a row, and after the bankruptcy in the derby against Union Berlin, sports director Fredi Bobic was also fired.

And now the ball flew towards the goal – until it landed on Makoto Hasebe’s arm. But the VAR didn’t intervene, Hasebe had turned away and blocked with his arm, that wasn’t enough for a whistle. From Hertha’s point of view it got even worse. Not only did the Berliners feel cheated of a penalty, they also had to accept that Eintracht could be happy about such a great opportunity: Randal Kolo Muani had been brought down by Filip Uremovic and shot Eintracht to the lead shortly afterwards.

Kolo Muani had already secured a point against FC Bayern with his goal last week, with this penalty against Hertha he now has eight goals and twelve assists. And then there was another goal, Berlin was simply overwhelmed and acted unsure: Kolo Muani completed the goal very coolly to make it 2-0 after Hertha’s attempt to set an offside trap was too weak. In the 55th minute, Kolo Muani was even happy with a hat-trick, but this time he was really offside and was called back. He was still allowed to celebrate, however, from the bench the Frenchman saw Aurelio Buta make it 3-0 in the third minute of added time, which plunged Hertha BSC even deeper into the crisis. Coach Sandro Schwarz’ team has now lost seven times in the last eight Bundesliga games. So the turbulent and wild days that Schwarz spoke of after Bobic’s dismissal continue.

1. FC Cologne – RB Leipzig 0-0

The outsider’s chance of taking the lead in the standings for at least 25 hours didn’t paralyze Leipzig at all. Silva’s pass to Timo Werner provided the first highlight after just 150 seconds. But the striker continued seamlessly where he had spent most of his time in the cup win against Hoffenheim (3-1) during the week: Great opportunities missed after solo runs – if he hadn’t taken the chance himself because he was offside had started.

Werner went into hiding in Cologne after that, others made sure that a lively game came about, although there were no more great chances to note. Until the 26th minute, when Silva tried Werner and failed in a 1-on-1 to Marwin Schwäbe, who looked like a handball goalkeeper. By the way, Werner was offside – but a goal would have counted in this scene.

The national striker couldn’t let that sit on him: he skillfully played his way to the front line, where RB was stopped again by Schwäbe (32nd). It was a counterattack that could have brought Cologne 1-0 – but first the nimble Maina put the ball on the inside post, the rebound hit Ljubicic on the crossbar (37th). The second half began with an offside goal for Leipzig by … yes, of course, Timo Werner – but this time his colleague Silva was decisively offside (47th). Even without goals, the game retained its high level of intensity. Things continued to get heated, amazing that nobody was sent off the field.

Union Berlin – FSV Mainz 05 2: 1 (1: 0), Goals: 1:0 Kevin Behrens (32nd), 1:1 Marcus Ingvartsen (79th, Handelfmeter), 2:1 Jordan Siebatcheu (84th)

Bundesliga: shooter of the second Union goal: Jordan Siebatcheu.

Scorer of the second Union goal: Jordan Siebatcheu.

(Photo: IMAGO/Matthias Koch/IMAGO/Matthias Koch)

Even if the Unioners didn’t want to hear anything about it, it was clear under which heading the game at the Alte Försterei took place: Since FC Bayern will only play on Sunday afternoon (in Wolfsburg), Berlin had a good chance of winning the game for the first time since October 29 to climb to the top of the table – if only for one night. The team had been at the top for weeks in the fall before the World Cup, before a curious 0:5 in Leverkusen (all goals conceded came in the second half) shocked the East Berliners from their dreams.

Union started particularly fast this time – Roussillon failed with a low shot by Mainz keeper Dahmen (10′), Khedira’s header just missed the far post (11′). Mainz kept drawing attention to themselves, but the hosts made it 1-0 – this time even without a standard situation. Berlin’s pros chose a popular variant when it’s supposed to happen from the game: Seguin’s hard, flat cross, played slightly forward, steered Behrens with his toe over the line to give him a deserved 1-0 lead.

There must have been something soporific in the hosts’ tea break. Union now hit the ball haphazardly out of the danger zone surprisingly often – as you would expect from a relegation candidate. The penalty followed immediately – no: arm, because Seguin flopped a cross on his arm, the video referee recognized that as an intention (78th), and Union received the receipt for a below-average performance after the change, which was not worthy of a table leader was. But wait! We’re talking about Union Berlin, which immediately changed course. Jordan refined Union’s first nice attack after the change with the goal to make it 2-1 (84th) – which gave Union a night full of beautiful dreams.

VfL Bochum – TSG Hoffenheim 5:2 (3:0), Goals: 1: 0 Philipp Hofmann (22nd), 2: 0 Philipp Förster (30th), 3: 0 Takuma Asano (40th), 3: 1 Christoph Baumgartner (49th), 4: 1 Erhan Masovic (69th). ), 4: 2 Munas Dabbur (77th), 5: 2 Moritz Broschinski (83rd)

Bundesliga: Almost everywhere when things got dangerous on the offensive: Bochum's Christopher Antwi-Adjei (middle).

Almost everywhere when things got dangerous on the offensive: Bochum’s Christopher Antwi-Adjei (middle).

(Foto: IMAGO/nordphoto GmbH / Rauch/IMAGO/Nordphoto)

“I think I radiate focussed calm, even if I’d like to hit the punching bag,” Hoffenheim coach André Breitenreiter said before the game. On Saturday on Castroper Strasse, it was obvious that he was still trying to appear calm, but that was becoming increasingly difficult. Because instead of ending the series of nine competitive games without a win, his team slipped deeper into the relegation zone – something that Breitenreiter’s Bochum colleague was not entirely innocent of. Thomas Letsch proved to have a knack for personnel decisions, he changed his starting lineup to four positions: central defender Erhan Masovic and Takuma Asano, Philipp Förster and Christopher Antwi-Adjei on the offensive were allowed to start – and it wasn’t long before Letsch was able to shoulder himself knock for that decision. At least one of them was involved in every goal, but above all it was Antwi-Adjei’s game.

In the 22nd minute the ball landed on the outside player, who first deceived his opponents with a body movement and then crossed it ideally to Philipp Hofmann, who only had to hold out his foot to make it 1-0. Eight minutes later, Antwi-Adjei left Christoph Baumgartner on the left and made a flat pass to Förster, who shot from 15 meters. And as if two assists weren’t enough, Antwi-Adjei added one more: This time he received the ball from Förster and passed it directly into the center to Takuma Asano – 3:0.

After the break, Baumgartner brought hope to TSG with an impressively precise goal, later on substitute Munas Dabbur even scored the second goal, but it wasn’t enough. Because before that, after a corner by Förster Erhan Masovic, the fourth Bochum goal was on top with a header. And then the substitute, just 22-year-old Moritz Broschinski, gave himself a gift for his Bundesliga premiere with a 5-2 win. So while Hoffenheim is continuing its negative series, Bochum is stringing together their fifth win in their fifth home game – and Christopher Antwi-Adjei once again showed how important he is for VfL.

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