Borussia Dortmund Dominance Continues Through 11th Week Of Bundesliga Campaign

First-place Borussia Dortmund extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to four points with a 4-0 win over Hannover 96 courtesy of a classy and ruthless display at the AWD-Arena. The visitors started off on the front foot and were ahead after just eleven minutes as Nuri Sahin slipped a pass in to Shinji Kagawa, who pulled the ball past two defenders and hammered his shot past Florian Fromlowitz. BVB were in control for most of the first half, and Hannover struggled to create any shooting opportunities.

The tone changed slightly in the second half, and Hannover began to look more threatening as Dortmund lost their grip on the match. However, just as Hannover had started to take control, Dortmund doubled their advantage. Another good pass from Sahin set Lukasz Piszczek free on the right and he drilled the ball across the face of goal for Lucas Barrios to tap in for 2-0. Hannover were shocked, and Dortmund were back in command. The hosts’ problems were compounded minutes later as Karim Haggui kicked Jakub Blaszczykowski in the head while the Polish winger was lying on the pitch in the penalty area. The referee, Mr. Felix Brych, sent off Haggui and awarded Dortmund a penalty for the offence. Sahin stepped up to take the spot-kick, but his weak effort was saved by Fromlowitz.

Last-place Borussia Mönchengladbach battled to a three-three draw with Bayern Munich at Borussia-Park, effectively ending the champions’ last faint title hopes. ‘Gladbach had taken the lead after just five minutes as Hans-Jörg Butt misjudged a cross from Patrick Herrmann, but Mario Gómez pulled Bayern level shortly after with a back post header from Toni Kroos’ corner. The visitors controlled much of the remaineder of the first half, hitting the crossbar twice before Bastian Schweinsteiger put Bayern ahead with five minutes to play in the first half. Things looked to have gotten much worse for ‘Gladbach just two minutes later as Sebastian Schachten tripped Hamit Altintop to give Bayern a penalty, but Schweinsteiger hammered his spot-kick against the post.

Mönchengladbach took heart from their let-off in the second half and scored two in quick succession to re-take the lead. On the counter, Igor de Camargo slipped the ball through to Marco Reus, who smashed his shot in past Butt to bring ‘Gladbach level on fifty-six minutes. Four minutes later, it was Reus who provided the pass for de Camargo, who skipped past Van Buyten and gave the hosts a surprising lead. Bayern came back into the game after throwing away their lead, pinning Die Fohlen back around their own penalty area. The champions did earn an equalizer, Philipp Lahm slicing the ball in with six minutes to play, but both sides had to settle for just a point. The draw means ‘Gladbach are still bottom of the league, albeit level on points with Stuttgart, who have a game in hand, while FCB drop to ninth, nine in arrears of leaders Dortmund but just three behind Frankfurt for third place.

Schalke 04 3 (Raúl 14’, Huntelaar 54’, Raúl 81’) - St. Pauli 0

Schalke 04 recorded their first home win of the Bundesliga campaign with a three-nil victory over St. Pauli in the opening match of Week 11. Two strikes from Raúl sandwiched a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar goal in Die Königsblauen’s biggest win of the season, and the victory moves S04 from joint-bottom into fifteenth place.

This weekend’s slate of fixtures in the Bundesliga may look less important than last week’s, but there are crucial games around the league as teams try to get back into the title race, move up into mid-table, or simply break out of a slump in form. Schalke certainly fall into the latter category as they kick off the weekend at home to St. Pauli, and Stuttgart’s home clash with Bremen should also be an interesting contest of teams performing below their expected level. Nürnberg will be looking to keep up in the race for European football as they face Köln, and Hoffenheim take on Hamburg SV with both sides looking to close the gap at the top. The two runaway leaders, Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, are away to Freiburg and Hannover respectively, and both look likely to continue their perfect away records.