Union Berlin – SC Freiburg 4:2 (3:0), Tore: 1:0 Behrens (5.), 2-0 Becker (35′), 3-0 Becker (38′), 3-1 Gulde (56′), 3-2 Grifo (70′, penalty kick), 4-2 Laidouni (80′)
This season’s two surprise teams, Freiburg in fifth and Union in fourth, are best known for their incredible stability. The football god then poured a bucket of irony over this game, because Freiburg’s Kiliann Sildillia didn’t have a stable footing, slipped early and Union’s Kevin Behrens pushed in to make it 1-0. Then the Berliners celebrated a best-of of their own strengths: compactness, switching game, success with standards. Sheraldo Becker initiated an attack in his own half on the center line, but was still lightning fast in front of the Freiburg goal: 2:0.
Just two minutes later he overcame SC goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a corner with a powerful shot into the near corner from 16 meters. Between the two goals he had cheered with a Spider-Man mask and seen yellow. The lightning-fast superhero “The Flash” would have been more appropriate, but heck, Becker was untouchable that afternoon. It wasn’t just Union: Freiburg came close again with a goal from Manuel Gulde and an outrageously tight Panenka penalty from Vincenzo Grifo. But Becker rushed to the rescue again, preparing the 4:2 by Aissa Laidouni (80th) in a counterattack. With two goals and two assists, Becker Union moved past Leipzig to third place, at least temporarily. The Champions League is getting closer. (tbr)
Bayern Munich – Schalke 04 6: 0 (2: 0), Goals: 1: 0 Müller (21st), 2: 0 Joshua Kimmich (29th, penalty after video evidence), 3: 0 Gnabry (50th), 4: 0 Gnabry (65th), 5: 0 Tel (80th ), 6-0 Mazraoui (90+2)
Was a topic of conversation during the week because of alleged farewell thoughts, against Schalke Bayern attacker Thomas Müller made a name for himself with the goal to make it 1-0.
(Photo: Christian Kolbert/kolbert/Imago)
What is a Thomas Müller game according to the definition of coach Thomas Tuchel, you will probably never find out. He won’t tell. You have to be thankful for his hints, which sometimes contradict each other. And the principle of elimination procedures does not help with the question either. What is known: The two games against Manchester City were not Thomas Müller games because he was on the bench. The game against Mainz was already a Thomas Müller game, he was allowed to play there. The games against the relegation candidates Hertha BSC and Bremen were not Thomas Müller games again, but the match against the relegation candidates Schalke 04 on Saturday was. This time, Tuchel justified Müller’s move with the aim of “better occupation in the penalty area” – and the vision that Bayern were “a bit more offensive” with the brace from Jamal Musiala and Müller. So so.
21 minutes had been played on Saturday, Müller had just made it 1-0 – known in technical jargon as a “can opener” – when one asked oneself: Wouldn’t this tick offensive have been quite nice beforehand? Not that in the end the games against Hertha and Werder Thomas-Müller-Spie … oh, for free!
Bayern got off to a stormy start and after ten minutes had a huge chance in the category Why the hell didn’t they do that? Müller ran comfortably like a hiker through the penalty area, just with a ball at his foot, but he shot just as little as hikers can shoot for lack of a ball; At some point Coman took over, Schalke van den Berg cleared on the baseline. Again and again the Munich team pushed for the opposing goal, via Gnabry, via Musiala, via Sané – they were a bit reminiscent of Bayern at the beginning of the season, who happily created chances even without a centre-forward. And who became more confident with every goal.
After Kimmich increased the lead to 2-0 with a penalty kick, the guests obviously lost the belief that they could still turn this game around. All the more annoying that Schalke’s offensive man Marius Bülter was even on the pitch, saw his fifth yellow card – and will therefore be missing in the far more important game against Eintracht Frankfurt.
In the second half, Bayern continued to combine happily, Serge Gnabry increased to 3-0 after a wonderful dribbling from Joao Cancelo on the left, then to 4-0 after a counterattack. As a goal celebration, he showed the gesture of stirring with a spoon in the imaginary pot. Logically, after two goals, Gnabry was now Bayern’s chef. He stayed that way after substitute Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui wounded poor Schalke with Bayern’s fifth and sixth goal. The fans sang: “German champion is only the Effzeebeee”.
And the realization dawned: Only Thomas Müller says what a Thomas Müller game is. (pps)
Eintracht Frankfurt – FSV Mainz 05 3:0 (2:0), Tore: 1:0 Kamada (18., Foulelfmeter), 2:0 Buta (40.), 3:0 Muani (59.)
Like Marco van Basten: Frankfurt’s Aurelio Buta scores against Mainz from the most acute angle.
(Photo: Michael Berm/Eibner/Imago)
Actually, the Frankfurters don’t need a Rhein-Main derby to get their pulse racing – they’re enough for themselves. Coach Oliver Glasner only watched Mainz from the stands because he picked up a red card the week before and then raged at a journalist. Possibly the drop that broke the jug; Eintracht announced during the week that they would go their separate ways at the end of the season.
So the question was: How does the team react to the coach’s announced expulsion? Answer: maximally unimpressed. First, Daichi Kamada converted a penalty he had taken out himself. Then Aurelio Buta conjured up the ghost of Marco van Basten in the Frankfurt Arena. Like the Dutchman against the Soviet Union in 1988, Buta scored from the most acute angle, volley, ecstasy. Such a gate can banish all worries, at least temporarily. Randal Kolo Muani made sure they stayed away a little longer with a solo goal over half the pitch. After ten games without a win in the league, it was a brilliant liberation for Eintracht. (tbr)
VfL Bochum – FC Augsburg 3:2 (1:1), Goal: 1:0 Antwi-Adjei (2nd), 1:1 Maier (29th), 2:1 Gouweleuw (59th, own goal), 3:1 Losilla (62.), 3:2 Yeboah (85.)
Bochum’s Christopher Antwi-Adjej defeats Augsburg’s keeper Tomas Koubek with a powerful shot.
(Foto: Lars Baron/Getty)
Anyone who lingered too long at the bratwurst booth at the beginning of the game had to be annoyed, because there was no warm-up here. After a bizarre header ping-pong in the center, the ball landed at Bochum’s energetic Christopher Antwi-Adjei, who threw a hook and fired a cannon shot that caused whiplash in the goal net. But the FCA is known to be a beastly adversary, the team does not shine, but it often collects its points somehow. Accordingly, Arne Maier made it 1-1 with a low shot without humor.
The encounter was also interesting for Hertha BSC, because a VfL victory could bring the Berliners very, very close to relegation. And that’s how it happened: Antwi-Adjei took off again, Jeffrey Gouweleeuw deflected his sharp pass into his own goal – and a player from Augsburg also helped to make it 3-1: Elvis Rexhbecaj deflected Anthony Losilla’s attempt into the bottom corner. In Bochum, the stadium shook despite the late 3: 2 by FCA striker Kelvin Yeboah, because VfL is again 15th in the table for the time being. And Hertha? It’s almost impossible to save. (bek)
VfL Wolfsburg – TSG Hoffenheim 2:1 (1:o), Tore: 1:0 Kaminski (15.), 2:0 Waldschmidt (75.), 2:1 Guilavogui (90.+3., Eigentor)
It was a bit mean: Hoffenheim attacked and hit the crossbar – but VfL scored the opening goal with a header from Poland’s Jakub Kaminski. Ridle Baku had crossed, the TSG defense in the person of striker Andrej Kramaric slept, so Hoffenheim’s worries about relegation increased. They had a very frustrating afternoon because they were trying. The problem was that they lacked what Wolfsburg could bring to Europe: VfL didn’t play nearly convincingly – but coolly, like a hired villain in the film. Luca Waldschmidt made it 2-0 after Felix Nmecha lobbed the ball after Kramaric had made a mistake in midfield again. Niko Kovac’s men have apparently agreed on a kind of pragmatism for the Conference League – and Hoffenheim, despite the late 1: 2 through an own goal by Joshua Guilavogui, is back in the middle of the downward pull. (bek)
