Borussia Dortmund is the leader of the Bundesliga – at least until FC Bayern Munich completes the 22nd matchday on Sunday. BVB continues its impressive series with a lot of work. Among the pursuers, RB Leipzig distances Eintracht Frankfurt. And Hertha BSC achieves a very important victory.
TSG Hoffenheim – Borussia Dortmund 0:1 (0:1)
With the seventh win in the seventh league game in 2023, Borussia Dortmund has taken the lead in the Bundesliga for at least 26 hours. Coach Edin Terzic’s team earned a deserved 1-0 (1-0) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, a candidate for relegation. In front of 30,150 spectators in the sold-out Sinsheim stadium – including national coach Hansi Flick – national player Julian Brandt (43rd minute) scored the goal of the day.
This puts BVB three points ahead of their title rivals before the hit on Sunday (5.30 p.m.) between FC Bayern Munich and Union Berlin. At the crisis club from Kraichgau, new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo conceded his third defeat in a row since taking office, even though his team showed a lot of improvement. Hoffenheim thus matched the club record of twelve games without a win from 2008/2009, when TSG under Ralf Rangnick fell from first place in their debut season in the upper house and slipped down to 16th relegation place.
BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl had refused a title announcement in view of Dortmund’s high flight before the kick-off – “because we know where we come from,” he said in the Sky interview. “When the time comes, we will also deal with the topic. But it’s still too early.” BVB went into the game with Jamie Bynoe-Gittens replacing the injured young star Karim Adeyemi. After less than four minutes, TSG goalkeeper Oliver Baumann had to defuse the 18-year-old’s first dangerous shot.
The underdog got into the game much better than at home in the 3-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen and even dared to go forward again and again, mostly driven by Austria’s Christoph Baumgartner. After less than half an hour, Matarazzo had to replace the ailing Ozan Kabal in defense with Ermin Bicakcic. Dortmund probably saw that as a signal to put more pressure on: Baumann prevented Haller from going behind twice. It had not previously been obvious that the best league team to date would play in 2023 with the worst.
Shortly before the break, however, the guests took the lead with a curious free kick goal: Brandt extended Marco Reus’ sharply kicked ball into the net with his back – his eighth goal of the season and the fourth in the fourth game in a row. Shortly thereafter, Marius Wolf had a clear shot and should have made it 2-0. After the change, Hoffenheim briefly hoped for a penalty: Emre Can had touched Kevin Akpoguma on the edge of the penalty area and referee Martin Petersen watched the scene again on the video screen, but then gave the dropped ball.
Shortly thereafter, Petersen took back a goal from Wolf (56th) in another VAR decision: Nico Schlotterbeck had previously stepped on Ihlas Bebou’s foot. After this turbulent start to the second half, Hoffenheim also played along eagerly, but missed chances from Kramaric and Baumgartner.
RB Leipzig – Eintracht Frankfurt 2: 1 (2: 0)
RB Leipzig is back in the title race. After seven attempts without a win, the German Cup winners again managed to win against Eintracht Frankfurt and at least jumped to fourth place in the table overnight. At 2:1 (2:0), Marco Rose’s team showed a convincing performance, especially in the first half.
In front of 47,069 spectators in the sold-out Red Bull Arena, Timo Werner (6th minute) gave the Saxons an early lead against the Europa League winner with a stumbled goal. Then he played for Emil Forsberg (40th) to make it 2-0. Djibril Sow (61st) shortened for Frankfurt, who only woke up in the second half. With 42 points, Leipzig is keeping up with the top trio. Eintracht had to accept a setback in the fight for the premier class places and remains in sixth place with 38 points.
After 1:28 minutes, Marcel Halstenberg had the lead from close range on his foot after Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp let a Poulsen input bounce off forward. Forsberg went just wide of the visitors’ goal shortly afterwards, but was there when Tuta slipped up. The Swede sent Werner through and the national striker maneuvered the ball into the goal with a lot of luck despite a blunder. Under the eyes of DFB sports director Rudi Völler, Werner ended his goal drought that had lasted for four competitive games.
In the 23rd minute, Werner could have followed up from 13 meters, but Hrvoje Smolcic literally threw himself into the shot. Then Trapp saved against the free Konrad Laimer (24th). The Hessians found the game sluggish and were not present enough in the duels. Although RB made a few dropouts in defensive midfield, Eintracht did not use these mistakes. The lightning-fast Randal Kolo Muani and Jesper Lindström ran over the RB defense several times from the wing positions, but the crucial pass didn’t arrive.
Eintracht got the first chance to score thanks to a free kick in the 33rd minute, which Philipp Max shot into the RB wall. Leipzig continued the game. After a dream combination of Dominik Szoboszlai and Werner, Forsberg made it 2-0. After the change, Eintracht increased. RB keeper Janis Blaswich was tested for the first time by Lindstrom (51st) and Kolo Muani (52nd). Sow then hammered the ball into the goal from ten meters out before Blaswich prevented the equalizer against Lindström (66′). On the other side, Laimer (67th/85th) missed twice free-standing. Shortly before the end, Trapp prevented another goal from a header by substitute Silva.
SV Werder Bremen – VfL Bochum 3: 0 (1: 0)
Niclas Füllkrug remains Werder Bremen’s sporting life insurance. The national striker’s 14th goal of the season initiated an important 3-0 (2-0) home win against VfL Bochum, which enabled the promoted team to stay out of the relegation battle. Werder now has an eleven-point lead over VfL, who are extremely weak this time in penultimate place. Bremen scored 23 of their 30 points in games in which Füllkrug scored at least once.
In front of 42,100 spectators in the Wohninvest Weserstadion, the 30-year-old scored the 1-0 for Werder in the 29th minute. Niklas Schmidt (41st) and Marvin Ducksch (59th) extended this lead. The preparatory work for the first two goals came from Anthony Jung, who had just extended his contract with Bremen this week. This home win repeated a pattern from the Werder season: Whenever Ole Werner’s team threatens to be drawn into the relegation battle again and there is slight unrest in Bremen, they reliably score. That was already the case in the 2-0 first leg win in Bochum and in the 2-1 win against VfL Wolfsburg in January.
VfL also made it easy for Bremen. As hard as the relegation candidate had fought its way up from the bottom of the table in the past few weeks, it remained passive and weak in tackles in this important game. After the suspension of his captain Anthony Losilla, coach Thomas Letsch had to rebuild the defensive, switched to a five-man defense and called up four new defenders. However, the attempt to stabilize their own cover was at the expense of the offensive. Bochum far too seldom brought their tricky half-forwards Takuma Asano and Christopher Antwi-Adjei into play.
The Werder team only had to tremble briefly in the first half when the video referee checked contact between Amos Pieper and Philipp Hofmann in the Bremen penalty area in the 18th minute. However, the decision remained the same: no penalty for Bochum. Werder wasn’t much better in the first half, but they were much more efficient than VfL. When Füllkrug missed the 2-0 after a corner kick in the 39th minute, Schmidt was there just two minutes later.
And even after the break, the green-whites used their first opportunity to make it 3-0. Again, Füllkrug broke through in a central position and was stopped by a foul on the edge of the penalty area. His strike partner Ducksch converted the free kick that was due.
The last half hour was little more than a Bremen show. Bochum’s resistance flagged. And at the same time, direct competitor Hertha BSC also scored a home win against Augsburg. After the fifth defeat in the seventh Bundesliga game of the new year, VfL fell back to a direct relegation zone. Next opponent: bottom of the table Schalke 04.
1. FC Köln – VfL Wolfsburg 0:2 (0:1)
A homegrown player from Cologne has probably ended 1. FC Köln’s dream of another season in the European Cup. Yannick Gerhardt, who trained at FC, scored the early opening goal in the fourth minute of the 2-0 (1-0) win in Cologne, laying the foundation for VfL Wolfsburg’s fifth away win. Captain Maximilian Arnold added a penalty kick (68th). The Lower Saxony thus consolidated seventh place, which will probably be enough to get into the Conference League at the end of the season. Cologne, who represented the Bundesliga in the smallest European Cup this season, could have come within a point of VfL if they won. After the second defeat in 2023 and the second in a row without a goal of their own, there are now seven of them.
Coach Steffen Baumgart also stated before the game that he did not want to attack seventh place, but only look at staying up in the league. After Denis Huseinbasic also fell ill for a short time, FC had to do without nine professionals. Before the game, the Cologne fans had put together an impressive red and white choreography through the entire stadium to celebrate the club’s 75th birthday twelve days ago. Then, of all people, Gerhardt became the quick mood killer. The midfielder, whose shot slipped Marvin Schwäbe under his stomach, switched to FC at the age of nine, turned professional there and stayed for 13 years. Out of respect for his former club, he didn’t celebrate, but the fans whistled loudly when his name was announced as the scorer.
The people of Cologne didn’t despair and kept running. However, they seemed tired, unimaginative and unfocused. Baumgart had brought up two real strikers in Steffen Tigges and Davie Selke, but most of the time the ball never got to them. The Wolfsburg were deep after the early lead and relied on their more mature game system. But as soon as it went towards the gate, they too became hectic. The best example was the action of Omar Marmoush, who centered the ball around eight meters in front of the goal and then slipped away (35′).
At the end of a less than entertaining first half, there were a total of six shots on goal in the statistics, two for FC and four for VfL. No one had caused any real excitement since von Gerhardt’s success. The second half wasn’t really entertaining at first. Until Cologne defender Timo Hübers took heart and shot from around 30 meters (58th), Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels had hardly any problems with the ball. The hope of a turnaround was finally gone when captain Jonas Hector fouled Wolfsburg’s Kilian Fischer in the penalty area and Arnold safely converted. A minute before the end, Selke had Cologne’s greatest chance, but Casteels made a good save. Then Hübers even scored, but was offside.
Hertha BSC – FC Augsburg 2:0 (0:0)
Former Augsburg Marco Richter has guided Hertha BSC to an important victory in the fight against relegation. The former Augsburger initiated the 2-0 (0-0) home win over FC Augsburg with his opening goal in the 61st minute. Dodi Lukebakio (69th) scored the second goal in front of 40,522 spectators in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
Hertha trainer Sandro Schwarz had to send Agustin Rogel onto the field for Marton Dardai just before the start, otherwise he trusted the starting eleven, which also started in the 1: 4 in Dortmund last Sunday. As a result, winter newcomer Florian Niederlechner also played against his old club. For this, the Berliners have to transfer a certain sum to the Swabians. “I got the green light at the beginning of the week, so it wasn’t a big issue for us. That’s why Florian is on the pitch from the start,” said Schwarz at Sky before kick-off.
Augsburg coach Enrico Maassen made two changes compared to the 1-0 win over Hoffenheim. Iago and Niklas Dorsch replaced injured Felix Uduokhai and Elvis Rexhbecaj. The initial phase had a certain pace from both teams – Niederlechner had a chance after just a few seconds. But most of the first half, which was not always impressive, was played between the penalty areas, as inaccurate passes ruined possible chances from the outset. The ball was only closer than 16 meters to the respective goalkeeper in standard situations, but these scenes were also scarce in the first part of the game.
By chance, Jessic Ngankam got the shot just before the break at the corner of the box, but his powerful shot went over former Union keeper Rafal Gikiewicz’s goal. In the snow that started in the second half, the hosts tried to get more of the game, while the guests initially limited themselves to counterattacking. The improved commitment of the Berliners was rewarded by the leadership. A free kick by captain Marvin Plattenhardt was shot in the middle of the penalty area by former Berliner Arne Maier to the waiting judge, who hit the right corner from 25 meters. The 25-year-old had already scored in the first leg in the 2-0 away win and was able to celebrate his first goal after suffering from testicular cancer.
Eight minutes after the lead, another free kick was the starting point for the second goal. Rogel threw the ball from his own half of the field into the Augsburg penalty area, where Lukebakio, who came at half-time, circled the ball past Gikiewicz, who was running out, and forced a preliminary decision.
