The second halves of today’s fixtures exploded into action and fates were sealed. Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Wolfsburg battled until the bitter end.
Bundesliga Saturday: Frankfurt Relegated, ‘Gladbach To Playoff, Wolfsburg Survive
Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund played a 0-0 halftime score. Frankfurt would grab on to a lifeline immediately after the second half kickoff when Sebastian Rode beat Roman Weidenfeller with a header off of a Theofanis Gekas cross. The champions would continue to attack and finally broke through in the 68th minute behind Lucas Barrios. Just minutes later Frankfurt's fate would be sealed after an own goal by Marco Russ in the 72nd minute. Dortmund would earn a penalty when Marcel Titsch-Rivero, a minute after being subbed onto the field, bundled over Marcel Schmelzer. Dortmund legend Dede would see his penalty saved by Ralf Fährmann who had an outstanding match. This was his second penalty save of the match! Lucas Barrios would score another goal in stoppage time to put a definitive stamp on Dortmund's title celebrations and Frankfurt's relegation to the 2.Bundesliga.
Borussia Mönchengladbach went into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead over Hamburg after a great free kick goal by Juan Arango. Hamburg would continue to push for an equalizer and then subbed on Ruud van Nistelrooy for Ze Roberto. Both men were in the Hamburg shirt for the final time. Van Nistelrooy would immediately cause problems. He would see his shot saved by Marc-André ter Stegen but Änis Ben-Hatira was right there to tap in the rebound. The match would end with in a 1-1 draw. ‘Gladbach knew they were guaranteed at least the relegation playoff place, but a loss by Wolfsburg against Hoffenheim would guarantee their safety in the Bundesliga for another season.
With the drama surrounding Wolfsburg pregame, it was always going to be interesting to see how they would come out on the road against Hoffenheim. They knew going into the match that they needed to get just the same result as ‘Gladbach or better. After a 0-0 first half, Hoffenheim would strike early to begin the second half. Roberto Firmino would get a goal in the 49th minute to put all the pressure in the world on Magath’s team. Mario Mandzukic became a hero just 11 minutes later. Mandzukic would bag goals in the 60th and 73rd minutes to give Wolfsburg the 2-1 lead. Grafite would finish off Hoffenheim when a ball would deflect off of him and into the back of the net to make the score 3-1. Wolfsburg survives for another season and ‘Gladbach find themselves in the relegation playoff.
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