Saturday
15:30 CET
Freiburg
1
2
Bayern
Nuernberg
1
3
Bremen
Hannover
2
0
Hoffenheim
Hamburg
6
2
Koeln
Frankfurt
2
1
St Pauli
18:30 CET
Dortmund
1
1
Mainz
Sunday
1530 CET
Leverkusen 2 0 Schalke
1730 CET
Stuttgart 1 1 Wolfsburg
Freiburg 1-2 Bayern Munich
Bayern rebounded from their midweek loss to Inter with a vital win away to Freiburg. Mario Gomez put the Bavarians ahead on nine minutes as he headed in Franck Ribery’s cross, but the hosts fought back and ought to have scored at least twice before the half-time break. Thomas Kraft saved Papiss Cisse’s penalty kick before Cisse emphatically made amends by equalising in the 17th minute. Bayern were more solid at the back in the second half, but rarely looked dangerous until the final quarter hour. Miroslav Klose had his effort cleared off the line before the clinically efficient Ribery scored the winner, a low drive on 88 minutes that just might have preserved Bayern’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Nuernberg 1-3 Werder Bremen
Bremen edged further from the relegation zone with their second win in three matches. Within the opening half hour, Claudio Pizarro won a penalty and Sandro Wagner stepped up to convert the resulting spot kick. Fit-again playmaker Ilkay Guendogan leveled for Nuernberg moments later, but Pizarro restored Werder’s lead on 50 minutes. The Bavarians’ chances of mounting a late comeback were severely compromised when Timothy Chandler was dismissed on 72 minutes. At the death, Pizarro won another spot kick, which Wagner converted, sealing three points for the visitors.
Hannover 2-0 Hoffenheim
Prolific duo Didier Ya Konan and Mohammed Abdellaoue were on target for Hannover, who earned an impressive win against Hoffenheim. The vvisitors won the majority of possession and had their chances, but die Roten were the more efficient side, and preserved their two-point lead over Bayern thanks to Ya Konan (38′) and Abdellaoue (53′), who netted on either side of the half-time break.
Hamburg 6-2 Koeln
In their first match under Michael Oenning, Hamburg delivered a 6-2 hammering of Koeln. Mladen Petric (12′, 38′, 43′) had a first half hat trick, and Anis Ben-Hatira added another on 32 minutes. In the second half, Mato Jajalo pulled one back for the visitors before Gojko Kacar and Ze Roberto (penalty, 58′) responded to secure the result beyond a shadow of a doubt. Lukas Podolski (62′) continued his fine run of form with another goal for Koeln, but die Geissboecke still slumped to a demoralising loss.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 St Pauli
Theofanis Gekas returned to scoring ways with a double strike, as Frankfurt earned their first win of the calendar year. The Greek striker won and converted a penalty on 34 minutes, but the visitors battled back and leveled on 42 minutes thanks to a good strike from Charles Takyi. The game was rather evenly played throughout, but Frankfurt were just a bit sharper in front of goal and took three points thanks to Gekas’ fine finish on 76 minutes.
Dortmund 1-1 Mainz
The champions dropped points for the second consecutive game against a Mainz team who were good value for a point. After Mats Hummels had given Dortmund the lead in the eighth minute, Nuri Sahin missed his third spot-kick of the season on 18 minutes. That was to prove costly as substitute Peter Sliskovic equalised with two minutes remaining despite Juergen Klopp’s protests that a Dortmund player lay injured on the ground.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Schalke
A turbulent week ended in disappointing fashion for die Koenigsblauen, who were comprehensively outplayed by second-placed Leverkusen. The three points were tied up well before the interval thanks to an incredible volley from Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok and an embarrassing own-goal from Christoph Metzelder, who headed Renato Augusto’s cross beyond Manuel Neuer.
Stuttgart 1-1 Wolfsburg
It looked set to be the perfect return to Wolfsburg for Felix Magath but his side were denied at the death. Grafite’s 40th minute strike, which involved the Brazilian powerfully shaking off Georg Niedermeier before firing past Sven Ulreich, looked to have condemned Stuttgart to defeat. However, a last-ditch equaliser from the aforementioned Niedermeier rescued a point for die Schwaben, who continue to hover just above the relegation zone.
