1. FC Cologne – FC Bayern Munich 1:3 (1:1)
FC Bayern finished the first half of the season as the best autumn champions in the history of the Bundesliga. The Munich team defeated 1. FC Köln 3-1 (1-1) after an initial deficit. Thanks to the better goal difference, the German record champions have surpassed their own record from the 2013/14 season with 47 points.
Linton Maina (41st minute) initially gave FC the lead. Serge Gnabry (45th + 5th), Min-jae Kim (71st) and Lennart Karl (84th) ultimately turned the game around for Munich’s 15th win of the season in the Bundesliga.
RB Leipzig – SC Freiburg 2:0 (0:0)
RB Leipzig has returned with a successful game in the Bundesliga. Coach Ole Werner’s team won 2-0 (0-0) against SC Freiburg. Last week, the Saxons had to take a break due to a game being canceled due to weather – but after a bit of warm-up time, the RB increased their performance and stayed in third place in the table at the end of the second half of the game.
Willi Orbán (53rd) and Rômulo Cardoso (56th) scored for Leipzig, who had said goodbye to the Christmas break with two defeats. With 32 points, RB is keeping pace with second-placed Borussia Dortmund (36). The Saxons are also still one game behind, as the duel with FC St. Pauli was postponed last week due to the winter weather. Freiburg remains in the middle of the table with 23 points.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach 5:1 (4:0)
The Hoffenheim team gave Borussia Mönchengladbach no chance to finish the first half of the Bundesliga. With a final score of 5:1 (4:0), the team celebrated its fifth home win in a row.
Andrej Kramarić scored three times (22nd, penalty kick/45th+1/45th+4), Tim Lemperle (24th) and U17 world champion Max Moerstedt (77th) also had a chance. The latter scored just 34 seconds after being substituted on – and thus scored his first goal in the Bundesliga. Substitute Shūto Machino scored for Gladbach (69′).
VfL Wolfsburg – FC St. Pauli 2:1 (1:1)
In the northern duel, VfL Wolfsburg beat FC St. Pauli 2:1 (1:1). Christian Eriksen’s first Bundesliga goal (25th) from a hand penalty gave Lower Saxony the lead before Eric Smith (40th) equalized for Hamburg. A late goal from Dženan Pejčinović (88th) finally brought Wolfsburg victory.
It was only on Sunday that VfL suffered the worst Bundesliga defeat in the club’s history with 1:8 in Munich. They have now increased the gap to the relegation zone to six points. For St. Pauli, however, the situation in the relegation battle is becoming increasingly precarious, with only twelve points they are in 17th place in the table. However, due to a weather-related game cancellation last weekend, coach Alexander Blessin’s team played one fewer game than their direct competitors.
For Wolfsburg, Aaron Zehnter and Yannick Gerhardt replaced Kilian Fischer and Mattias Svanberg in the starting eleven after Bayern’s defeat. Overall, Wolfsburg were active from the start and increasingly took control of the game. Hamburg, who were missing captain Jackson Irvine, who was again injured, also contributed to a lively opening phase in the VW Arena – a powerful shot from Mathias Pereira Lage just missed the goal (18th). After the break, Wolfsburg intensified their efforts to regain the lead and were ultimately rewarded.
