Saturdays Bundesliga Review: Dortmund Dominate As Schalke Suffer

Anatoliy Tymoschuk Looks A Different Player This Season.

Like I predicted in Saturdays Bundesliga preview, round fourteen has so far been full of surprises and close encounters. What was most interesting, I think, is the beginning of a real split between sides who look set to establish themselves in the upper echelons of the Bundesliga, and sides who may just fade away and have to settle for a mid-table place. Theres no better example of that right now then the extremely differing fortunes of Dortmund and Schalke. Lets get to the results.

Bayern Munich 4 1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Well, its another four goals conceded and another big loss for Frankfurt. They looked really up for it early on, and had a few guilt-edged chances to really put the pressure on the reigning champions. One that really stuck out was Gekas pull-back to Kittel, who only had to place his shot into the back of the net but struck it well wide in the end. The 17-year old still had a decent game, but that early miss will have dented his confidence. Anatoliy Tymoschuk opened the scoring with an absolute stunner of a goal (definitely a candidate for goal of the week), but Frankfurt made a quick reply through Theofanis Gekas, who tucked in his own rebound after his first effort clattered the post. The second-half was a lot more impressive from Bayern Munich, and their class eventually shone through. Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez scored on both sides of the hour mark and immediately killed the game off. Tymoschuk scored his second with minutes left, and he really is starting to look like the player Bayern Munich spent all that money on. Does his form force Mark van Bommel out of the side? These are the kinds of problems Louis van Gaal! will we lcome with open arms.

Hamburg SV 4 2 VfB Stuttgart

Saw this one coming a mile away. Stuttgart are shocking and they didnt do themselves any good away to Hamburg either. To further compound their misery, Ciprian Marica was sent off after just 16 minutes for mouthing off. Thats got to drive his manager absolutely insane. Trochowski opened the scoring after just 3 minutes before Marica equalized for the away side on 9 minutes. After the sending off, Pitroipa and Petric made it 31 before half-time and the game was virtually over. A minute after the break, Gentner put Stuttgart back into it but Hamburg never looked like giving up their lead. Ruud van Nistelrooy finished it off on the hour mark and compounded Stuttgarts misery. Vehs side dominated possession and thoroughly deserved the win. The result lifts them to 7th place, still five points short of Champions League qualification.

Hannover 96 3 0 SC Freiburg

I didnt expect this to be so convincing! Jan Schaludraff opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour, and the game stayed at 10 until the very end when Didier Konan and Mike Hanke killed the game off. I didnt think Freiburg would be unable to get on the scoresheet against Hannover; Papiss Cisse has been a revelation for them and I really expected him to steal the headlines here. Really impressive three points for Hannover, because I thought Freiburg would put up a lot more of a fight. Hannover are incredibly in 4th place in the Bundesliga table, just a single point behind Leverkusen and the Champions League. If they can keep it up, itll be one of the great stories of the season.

Kaiserslautern 5 0 Schalke

I still dont believe it. Its unreal. How could Magaths side go from beating Lyon 30 in the Champions League in midweek, from topping their group, from their impressive domestic performances recently, to this. Schalke fans would have watched in disgust. Absolutely shambolic. Its like all their g! ood work had just gone straight down the drain in a completely catastrophic performance thats mirrored in this unbelievable score line. A Srdjan Lakic brace and goals from Martin Amedick, a penalty from Ivo Ilicevic (which Lakic won) and a goal from Jan Moravek at the death sealed an incredible win for the home side who have been on fire since their comeback against Stuttgart. Fantastic stuff. The hosts are now 11th in the Bundesliga table, and they wont mind that one bit. Schalke, on the other hand, may be set for the round of sixteen in the Champions League, but theyre still in danger of relegation as they hang on to 15th, just 2 points away from the drop zone.

TSG Hoffenheim 2 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Now this is more like it, the kinds of results I was expecting. A close-fought, nervy fixture against two sides vying for the same spots in the Bundesliga table. A fantastic goal from Sidney Sam and then a penalty from Arturo Vidal put Leverkusen in the driving seat after just 10 minutes, but Hoffenheim regrouped well and proved a massive point. Ibisevic scored after a set-piece from Sejad Salihovic just before half-time, and that goal definitely gave Hoffenheim a license to kill. Despite their early way back into the game, Hoffenheim only equalized with seconds left on the clock from the penalty spot through Gylfi Sigurdsson. Still, its a result theyll be pleased with after going behind so early on. The result leaves them 4 points behind the visitors and the Champions League, but if they can continue to get positive results they can continue to challenge. Its Leverkusen who have dropped two points here as far as Im concerned.

Borussia Dortmund 4 1 Borussia Monchengladbach

Well, who didnt see this coming. It didnt look like it was going to go Dortmunds way early on, but in the end they got the result they were hoping for. Its fascinating to see so many younger players playing with so much focus and determination; that when they go behind they rarely fold or ! lose hea rt. Jurgen Klopp is the mastermind behind their unbelievable run, but hell want his players to receive all the praise. Marco Reus (hed be great at Dortmund) opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark, but Neven Subotic equalized just before the break. Its always a pivotal moment when a side scores before half-time, because it completely changes the landscape of a match heading into the second half. Kagawa, Grosskreutz and Barrios got on the scoresheet in the second half and condemned their Prussian rivals to defeat. Another win, and thats 12 wins out of 14 league games for Klopp this season. Incredible stuff. If they dont win the league, Ill be shocked.

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