The penultimate weekend of the Bundesliga season saw plenty of excitement and emotion as every single game was played on the same day. Champions Bayern Munich condemned Duisburg to relegation with a 3-2 win.
Wolfsburg’s dreams of a Uefa Cup spot were done the world of good with a stunning 4-0 win over fellow aspirants Stuttgart. Werder Bremen trounced Hannover 6-1 to maintain second place. Energie Cottbus beat Hamburg to secure their place in next season’s Bundesliga, while Nürnberg will have to go down to the wire in their bid to avoid the drop.
Duisburg 2-3 Bayern Munich
Bayern were victorious against Duisburg and condemned the Zebras to the second division next season. The Bavarians did however concede two goals, which is a blow to their bid to beat the record for the lowest number of goals conceded in a season.
With the MSV Arena basking in sunshine, champions Bayern Munich got off to the perfect start with the opening goal falling after just three minutes. A Schweinsteiger cross was cleared only as far as Ottl by Tararache, and the midfielder took two steps forward before rifling a shot into the bottom left-hand corner.
On 18 minutes Bayern grabbed their second of the game and it was like a training ground exercise. Van Bommel was allowed to waltz down the right unchecked before crossing into the centre. Lukas Podolski stood fully unmarked and headed past Tom Starke with ease.
Then with just 20 minutes on the clock, the game was over as a contest and the Zebras were staring relegation in the face. Starke managed to parry a shot from Sosa only as far as Podolski, who stroked the ball into an empty net.
The home side did pull a goal back three minutes into the second half through Tararache. He wasn’t dealt with satisfactorily by Ottl and fired home a fine shot from 22 meters into the left-hand corner.
Six minutes late and the deficit was further reduced when the Zebras scored a second. After keeper Tom Starke had twice denied both Schlaudraff and Podolski, Duisburg broke up field and scored with a fortuitous goal when van Bommel saw a clearance ricochet off Daun and past Oliver Kahn.
Schalke 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
The Königsblauen kept up the pressure on second place Werder Bremen with a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
The crowd inside the Veltins Arena had to wait until the 65th minute for the opening goal, but were relieved to see it fall to the home side. Ivan Rakitic fired in a free kick which was met by centre back Mladen Krstajic’s head with no Eintracht defender in sight.
The runners up spot will now be decided next weekend on the final day of the season.
Hansa Rostock 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Hansa have been relegated and Bayer have reclaimed a Uefa Cup spot with this 2-1 win for the away side.
The Werkself opened the scoring five minutes before the end of the first half with a penalty from Simon Rolfes. Arturo Vidal won the ball on the right hand side and drove into the penalty area, where he was fouled by Lukimiya to hand Bayer a spot kick and give Hansa a real uphill task in the second half.
Leverkusen’s second of the afternoon fell on 58 minutes again from the penalty spot. This time it was full back Gonzalo Castro who stroked the ball home after Hahnel had pulled down Bulykin in the area.
Hansa pulled a goal back on 67 through Menga before young Leverkusen substitute Jens Hegeler was sent off on his Bundesliga debut.
Werder Bremen 6-1 Hannover
A second half blitz from Werder saw them defend second place and inflict a massive defeat on local rivals Hannover with a 6-1 thrashing.
It was the home side that scored the opener at the Weser Stadion with Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida scoring after 14 minutes. Naldo won possession in midfield and strode confidently forward through the Hannover defence. Faced with keeper Enke he squared the ball unselfishly to Almeida, who had an easy task to stroke the ball home.
The provider of the first goal then scored the second after 27 minutes to put the home side in control. Diego sent in a free kick from the right and Naldo got up ahead of Vinicius to nick the ball past Enke and into the net.
Thomas Schaaf’s side sealed the three points with a third goal after 73 minutes with midfielder Tim Borowski scoring in his final home game for Werder before his summer move to Bayern. Diego’s free kick saw Ismael and Lala get in each others way and Borowski took advantage to volley home from close range.
The second half then turned into a complete rout. Diego missed from the penalty spot on 80 minutes but in the follow up the Brazilian was able to get the ball back into the area where Ivan Klasnic rose to head home Werder’s fourth.
Two minutes later it was 5-0 with Markus Rosenberg latching onto a Klasnic pass before he prodded the ball home. Then on 87 substitutes Özil and Hunt combined well to score the sixth of the afternoon for the Green and Whites. Hunt applied the finishing touch to a move that completely by-passed the Hannover defence.
Into injury time, and Hannover scored a consolation goal through Szabolcs Huszti. The away side were awarded a penalty after Frings fouled Stajner, and the Hungarian saw his effort saved by Wiese, but he managed to head in the rebound.
Karlsruhe 1-3 Bochum
Bochum ran out victorious in this game thanks largely to two goals within the space of three minutes at the start of the second half.
With the first half seemingly destined to finish goalless, Mimoun Azaouagh popped up late on to score. Buck looked to play the ball but struck referee Gagelmann. Azaouagh was the one to profit as he picked the ball up in his own half, before racing to the KSC penalty area and lashed the ball into the back of the net to hand Bochum the lead.
Then two goals within the space of three minutes early in the second half put the away side firmly in control. On 47 minutes Dabrowski headed home an Azaouagh corner, and then Stanislav Sestak finished off a fine counter attacking move begun by Epalle to stun KSC.
The home side did manage a goal but it proved too little, too late. Mario Eggimann fired home a right footed shot after Lastuvka had pushed away an effort from Timm following a corner.
Arminia Bielefeld 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
Bielefeld have done their survival hopes a world of good with a home point over Borussia Dortmund, although they will be kicking themselves that they didn't win
The home side took the lead after 24 minutes via the penalty spot after BVB keeper Höttecke hauled down Wichniarek in the area as he looked to latch onto a long ball. Thorben Marx stepped up to convert the spot kick with confidence.
Four minutes later though and the visitors were on level terms. The Arminia defence was by-passed well by Blaszczykowski and Federico and Delron Buckley profited by firing in from the left hand side.
The goals kept coming and the home side got their noses back in front on 34 minutes with Wichniarek the scorer. The Pole played the ball to Halfar and then carried on his forward run. The resulting cross found him in the middle and he headed well past Höttecke into the left hand corner.
Just when it looked like a home win was on the cards Frei struck a free kick that bounced up and hit Rowan Fernandez on the head before going in for a tragic own goal. Minutes earlier Robert Kovac had been sent off for the visitors.
Wolfsburg 4-0 Stuttgart
Felix Magath’s dreams of Europe are still very much alive after a stunning display saw his side beat Stuttgart 4-0 at the Volkswagen Arena.
After dominating proceedings during the opening quarter of an hour Wolfsburg were rewarded with a goal from Marcelinho on 16 minutes. VfB keeper Raphael Schäfer made a real hash of a long-range effort from namesake Marcel Schäfer, and could only parry the ball to Marcelinho, who stroked the ball home from a tight angle.
Things then went from bad to worse for the visitors on 18 minutes when captain Fernando Meira was shown a straight red card for lashing out at Grafite, who went down rather theatrically.
1-0 became 2-0 after just 22 minutes when Edin Dzeko curled in a superb effort from the edge of the box after being fed by Grafite. If the first goal was his fault, there was nothing he could have done to stop Dzeko’s effort for the second.
Ten minutes into the second half and the chances of VfB rescuing a point were reduced to minimal when Ricardo Costa headed in an Ashkan Dejagah corner to put Felix Magath’s side 3-0 up.
The rout worsened for ten-man Stuttgart on 75 minutes when second half substitute Dejagah got himself on the end of a cross from Makoto Hasebe before heading superbly past Schäfer to put the Wölfe 4-0 up.
Hertha Berlin 1-0 Nürnberg
A solitary goal from Raffael at the Olympiastadion was enough to see Hertha home and inflict further misery upon Nürnberg.
The Hertha playmaker sprinted onto a through pass beating Pinola before beating Klewer. The defeat means that ‘der Klub’ are ever nearer being relegated and their fate will be decided next weekend on the final day of the season. They have to beat Schalke and pray that Bielefeld don’t beat Stuttgart.
Energie Cottbus 2-0 Hamburg
Energie Cottbus have secured their top flight status with a 2-0 win over Hamburg, who are hanging onto their Uefa Cup spot by a thread.
Despite Hamburg having the better of the first half with regards possession and territory; it was the home side who took the lead on the half hour mark. Stiven Rivic fired the Lausitzer in front with their first real effort on goal. He latched onto a quick ball from Rangelov and proved too quick for Timothee Atouba to stop.
The second and decisive goal for Cottbus arrived on 84 minutes with Dane Sörensen the scorer. A free kick deep in their own half saw Sörensen latch onto the ball and score from close range and send the home crowd into ecstasy.
Goal.com - Bundesliga - Bundesliga Round-Up: Wolfsburg Stun Stuttgart, Cottbus Safe