Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund maintained their positions as 1 and 2 in the Bundesliga table with victories on Saturday.
Bundesliga, Week 19, Saturday Scores: Bayern Edge Wolfsburg, Dortmund Handle Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg
Felix Magath's side put up a good challenge, but Bayern Munich received a goal from Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben to seal a 2-0 victory in the Allianz Arena. The win sees Bayern maintain their first position in the table.
The first half was a peculiar one for Bayern. Gomez missed a sure goal from six yards out when he completely missed the ball. Toward the end of the half, Franck Ribery was obviously fouled in the area by Ricardo Rodriguez, but the referee did not award the penalty.
Bayern finally were rewarded in 60th minute when Gomez finished a loose ball in the box following a corner kick. The goal is his 17th of the year. This was Mario’s 200th appearance in the Bundesliga, and he did it without putting a hair out of place.
The final goal would be scored in stoppage time when Toni Kroos played a ball into open space on the left side of the pitch. Ivica Olic chipped the on-rushing Diego Benaglio, and the ball looked like it was going in the net. Wolfsburg defender Felipe Lopes cleared the ball off of the line, but his clearance smacked right into Robben who was standing right behind him.
Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim
Die Borussen handled their business in front of packed Westfalenstadion crowd. The brilliant Shinji Kagawa scored two goals, and the three points pushes Borussia Dortmund back to the top of the table level on points with Bayern Munich.
Dortmund opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Sebastian Kehl stole the ball in the middle of the park from Sebastian Rudy and fed Kagawa. The Japanese international found his way into the box and beat Tom Starke to make it 1-0.
Their lead was doubled in the 31st minute when Kagawa took the ball from Edson Braafheid. After some passing with Jakub Blaszczykowski, the Polish international crossed it to Kevin Großkreutz who found the back of the net. The third goal came in the second half when Braafheid once again coughed the ball up to Kagawa. He played the ball deep to Großkreutz who did a simple backheel that Kagawa planted into the net to give Dortmund a seemingly insurmountable lead.
Hoffenheim would get a consolation goal in the 63rd minute thanks to USA international Fabian Johnson.
Augsburg vs Kaiserslautern
It was a relegation six pointer, but both clubs come away sharing only one point in a disappointing result. Canadian international Marcel De Jong started the scoring in the 5th minute when his free kick deflected off of the wall and into the net.
Kaiserslautern equalized in the 25th minute and then went into the lead in the 48th thanks to Florian Dick. Both goals came from set pieces which have been a weak point for Augsburg all season long. The hosts would find a goal from Stephan Hain to level the score in the 66th minute just minutes after he was substituted onto the pitch.
Augsburg will feel like they should’ve taken all three points in this match, but two golden opportunities from Sascha Mölders would miss the target.
The draw means that both clubs remain in the relegation zone.
Hertha Berlin vs Hamburg
Hertha haven’t won in their last eight matches after a 2-1 loss at home to Hamburg. Thorsten Fink’s side rebounded brilliantly from the crushing defeat suffered at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last week.
Marcell Jansen opened the scoring int he 24th minute firing home a cross from Dennis Diekmeier. They doubled their lead in first half stoppage time when Mladen Petric headed a cross from Diekmeier past Thomas Kraft.
Hertha pulled one back in the 82nd minute when Pierre-Michel Lasogga headed in a cross from Levan Kobiashvili. Lasogga nearly found an equalizer minutes later, but Jaroslav Drobny made a brilliant save to preserve the victory.
Since Michael Skibbe took over Hertha, they have looked quite poor and have yet to pick up a point. It’s going to be an difficult stretch of three matches coming up for Hertha against Hannover 96, Stuttgart, and Borussia Dortmund.
Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen
With both sides looking for a win to pull closer to a Champions League place for next season, Bremen and Leverkusen played to a 1-1 draw.
Claudio Pizarro opened the scoring for Bremen in the 29th minute. Mehmet Ekici played a ball out wide to Tom Trybull, and he played a cross to Pizarro in the middle of the park. The Peruvian forward brought the ball down off of his chest and put it past Bernd Leno to give Bremen a deserved 1-0 lead.
Leverkusen were able to find an equalizer in the 57th minute from Stefan Reinartz’s header from a cross by Michal Kadlec.
Bremen nearly found the winner in the 82nd minute, but Markus Rosenborg’s shot struck the post.
A statement was made by Leverkusen manager Robin Dutt with club captain Michael Ballack not making it off of the bench for the match in Bremen. Ballack's been in poor form all season long and has been dogged with rumors surrounding his future at the club. His contract expires at the end of the season.
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