RB Leipzig continues to work its way up: On matchday 15 of the Bundesliga, Marco Rose has won his seventh game in ten games. And after a bad start to the season, even the front runner comes into view again. In the basement, Hertha BSC manages a liberating victory. Also because 1. FC Köln is helping a lot.
SV Werder Bremen – RB Leipzig 1: 2 (0: 1)
RB Leipzig continues its successful run. Before the winter break, the Saxons celebrated their sixth competitive win in a row and inflicted the next defeat on Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga in the English week. In the Hanseatic League, Leipzig won 2-1 (1-0) on Saturday afternoon. The cup winner confirmed his excellent form in a fast-paced but balanced game. The club has won the twelfth of 16 games since coach Marco Rose took office.
Before the game between SC Freiburg and Union Berlin and the game of Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, the Saxons moved up to second place in the table. Both teams are currently among the most dangerous teams in the league. Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku (12 goals) and Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug (10), who was called up to the German national team’s World Cup squad on Thursday, are currently among the best shooters in the league.
But neither the French World Cup participant Nkunku nor Füllkrug scored a goal in front of 41,500 spectators in the Weser Stadium. Leipzig’s attacker André Silva (13th minute) gave Leipzig the lead with the first big chance by scoring in the penalty area without resistance. Christian Groß (57th) equalized with a deflected shot from the edge of the penalty area. Xaver Schlager (71st) put the Saxons back in the lead and made the final score.
Füllkrug returned to the starting XI of the Hanseatic League after suffering a back injury. The attacker attracted attention with a good rate of tackles, but hardly had any promising goal actions. The 29-year-old failed with his first chance (22nd) in front of the overall strong RB goalkeeper Janis Blaswich and missed the equalizer. Nkunku got going late and several times had the potential 2-0 for the guests on his feet (45.1/52.). In the final minutes in particular, some French fans must have held their breath when the attacker was fouled twice and fell briefly on the ground.
Werder lost 6-1 at Bayern Munich on Tuesday. The Bremen were mostly equal. They fought against the deficit, but often failed because of the strong Leipzig defense or goalkeeper Blaswich.
TSG Hoffenheim – VfL Wolfsburg 1:2 (1:1)
With the fourth win in a row, VfL Wolfsburg said goodbye to the long winter and World Cup break as a Europa League candidate. The team of coach Nico Kovac landed a happy 2: 1 (1: 1) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in a chaotic game in the Bundesliga. In front of just 18,014 spectators in the Sinsheim stadium, Christoph Baumgarter (42nd minute) gave the home side the lead. An own goal by Ozan Kabak (45.5) and a goal by Ridle Baku (56.) plunged the Kraichgau team even deeper into the crisis.
With this win, Wolfsburg, who have now been unbeaten in nine competitive games, distanced Hoffenheim to five points in the table. Under head coach André Breitenreiter, the again disappointing TSG managed only one win in the last nine games at bottom Schalke 04. It was also the fifth home game in a row without a threesome.
While Wolfsburg had to do without their former World Cup candidate Lukas Nmecha (knee injury), Hoffenheim’s record scorer Andrej Kramaric ran from the start this time, but was ineffective. The Croatian, who has suffered a number of injuries in recent weeks, is currently TSG’s only Qatar kicker.
Wolfsburg striker Omar Marmoush had to leave the field after just over ten minutes. Hoffenheim initially developed more pressure: Baumgartner headed in, Angelo Stiller with a 20-metre shot and Georginio Rutter also headed in for a mighty challenge from ex-Hoffenheimer Koen Casteels in the VfL goal. . Both teams kept losing the ball unnecessarily.
It became really dangerous for TSG keeper Oliver Baumann for the first time after 39 minutes when Nmecha did not hit the ball properly from a promising position. Shortly thereafter, Casteels was powerless when Baumgartner headed the ball to make it 1-0 after a short corner. Wolfsburg’s woke-up effect was almost immediate: Arnold crossed, Sebastian Bornauw headed in from ten meters out, Baumann parried forward and Kabak pushed the rebound into his own net. The hit also withstood the video evidence.
The two opponents presented themselves much more cheerfully, but also not in a high-class manner after the break. Baku duped the TSG defence, his ball shot was enough to give Lower Saxony the opener. The approaching TSG pros were still struggling with the team of referees led by Daniel Schlager and the video assistants, since Paulo Otavio’s challenge against Georginio Rutter in the 71st minute was not penalized or at least checked.
Bayer Leverkusen – VfB Stuttgart 2: 0 (1: 0)
Weak start to the season, successful finish: Bayer Leverkusen is back on the road to success after a long and worrying downturn. With a 2-0 (1-0) win over VfB Stuttgart, coach Xabi Alonso’s team achieved their third Bundesliga win in a row. Thanks to goals from Moussa Diaby (30′) and Jonathan Tah (82′), the Werkself were spared another setback in front of a capacity crowd of 30,210 at the BayArena. In contrast, the Swabians spend the winter near the relegation zone and also remained without a win in the 17th away game in a row in the Bundesliga and thus in the entire calendar year 2022 abroad. With his team’s appearance in Leverkusen, coach Michael Wimmer was only able to collect further arguments for a VfB future as head coach to a limited extent.
Buoyed by the recent wins against Union Berlin (5-0) and in Cologne (2-1), the Werkself took charge from the start. But against the well-staggered guest defense, it was difficult to create scoring chances at first. In addition, the Swabians showed little willingness to limit themselves to defensive tasks and tried to prevent Leverkusen’s feared switching game with a calm and safe build-up. This tactic by Wimmer, under whose direction VfB had won four out of six competitive games, initially paid off.
But as the season progressed, Leverkusen developed more imagination in their search for free space. The lead seemed close when Diaby (28′) and Nadiem Amiri (29′) shot just wide of the goal. It happened a little later. The fast Diaby made a courageous start past two opponents with a shot from 18 meters, which was unluckily deflected into his own net by Waldemar Anton.
Nevertheless, the guests remained calm, but despite all possession of the ball, they rarely approached the opposing goal. That’s why the half-time lead for Leverkusen was okay. Especially since Kerem Demirbay (44th) hit the side netting with a free kick shortly before. After the restart, the entertainment value of the game dropped. Although Stuttgart tried hard to equalize, they acted too unimaginatively. And because the hosts rarely showed their great offensive potential, a game developed between the penalty areas with only a few goal-area scenes. Only when Jeremie Frimpong (63rd) hit the crossbar from close range after a remarkable counterattack did it get a little louder in the stands.
It was fitting for the declining level of the game that a standard set the stage for the second goal. After a corner from Demirbay and a header extension, defender Tah was there from close range and made the decision 2-0. Bayer have thus recorded ten out of twelve possible points and scored 13 goals in the four Bundesliga home games under Xabi Alonso.
Hertha BSC – 1. FC Cologne 2: 0 (1: 0)
Hertha BSC eased concerns about the sporting situation a little with a win over 1. FC Köln. After five unsuccessful attempts in the league, the Berliners were able to record three points again for the first time with the 2-0 (1-0) against the Rhinelanders. In a lively and at times agitated game, Wilfried Kanga gave the hosts the lead in the ninth minute in front of 60,827 spectators in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. Nine minutes after the break, Marco Richter made it 2-0. Hertha goes into the World Cup break with 14 points, while Cologne have three points more without a win in five games.
Hertha coach Sandro Schwarz made two changes on Saturday compared to the 2-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart and ordered Kanga into the starting XI instead of Davie Selke and Ivan Sunjic for Suat Serdar. Cologne’s coach Steffen Baumgart was able to fall back on Timo Hübers and also gave ex-Herthan Ondrej Duda, who had scored 3-1 for Cologne in the previous season, the starting XI mandate. Both teams were greeted with a 20 meter long poster in the east stand, with which Hertha fans called for a boycott of the World Cup in Qatar.
Hertha got off to a lightning start. After a precise cross from captain Marvin Plattenhardt, Kanga’s header gave Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe no chance. After his second goal of the season, the 24-year-old sank to his knees and raised his fingers to the sky in thanks.
The joy of taking the lead should have faded five minutes later, but Sargis Adamyan, after a cross from Linton Maina, managed to put the ball on the crossbar from three yards out in front of the empty goal. In the 25th minute, Maina pushed the ball past Hertha goalkeeper Oliver Christensen from 14 meters out, but also narrowly missed the goal. On the other hand, Kanga narrowly missed his second goal three minutes later when he just hit the side netting. Shortly before the change of sides, Sunjic failed from 15 meters to Schwäbe. Shortly thereafter, Hertha was lucky that Maina’s goal was disallowed for offside.
Hertha also opened the second round with an early goal. Lukebakio tanked into the Cologne penalty area and passed in the middle, where Schwäbe saved with his foot. However, the ball came right to Richter, who placed the ball high in the Cologne box (54th). The action then took place mainly between the penalty areas. Marc Oliver Kempf tested Schwäbe again ten minutes before the end of regular time, but nothing came from Cologne.
FC Augsburg – VfL Bochum 0:1 (0:0)
Christopher Antwi-Adjei has ended VfL Bochum’s away misery in the Bundesliga. The 28-year-old let the Ruhrpott-Elf celebrate the first away points of the season in the 1-0 (0-0) win against FC Augsburg. The victory brought Bochum to within two points of FCA, who missed a huge chance of a draw when Mergim Berisha missed a penalty two minutes after Bochum’s goal (60′).
In front of 28,011 spectators, some of whom called for a boycott of the World Cup with a large banner, things got down to business in the WWK Arena in a rustic manner and without any playful highlights. Lots of long balls, plenty of technical mistakes, but few chances to score or long periods of possession – it wasn’t a football treat. The thrilling final offensive by the Augsburgers, who never gave up, with goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz attacking along with them, was powerful but not crowned with success. Also because Bochum fought against it with the same passion.
Overall, the better actions in front of goal were recorded by Bochum. The outstanding Antwi-Adjei had the main part in it. The 28-year-old failed with a deflected shot by FCA keeper Gikiewicz (13′), hit the outside post (14′), stumbled alone in front of Gikiewicz (23′) and set up perfectly for Simon Zoller (45′ 2). Zoller’s ball just missed the goal.
It was not at all surprising that Antwi-Adjei let coach Thomas Letsch celebrate the lead on the sidelines. After a lob by former Augsburger Konstantinos Stafylidis, the ball bounced back and forth between him and Gikiewicz, who shortened the angle well – and then it was in the goal. After a handball from Zoller, FCA almost had a top chance in return, but Berisha failed to convert the penalty kick into the goal of penalty saver Manuel Riemann. Antwi-Adjei is not considered a World Cup candidate for Ghana’s selection.
Normally, however, Augsburg’s Carlos Gruezo would be in the South Americans’ World Cup squad when Ecuador were nominated on Monday. But the 27-year-old midfielder was injured and replaced after half an hour. When leaving the lawn, Gruezo pulled his jersey over his face and was consoled by his teammates and those in charge. FCA full-back Robert Gumny, who is nominated for Poland’s World Cup team, impressed in the intense duel in the basement. Switzerland’s Ruben Vargas, who came on early for the injured captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, only got better into the game after adjustment problems. He can look forward to the duel against Brazil at the World Cup.
