Sport Bundesliga, 26th matchday
Bayern confident after early shock, referee decides game in Wolfsburg
As of: 5:55 p.m. | Reading time: 5 minutes
Bottom team Darmstadt surprisingly took the lead against FC Bayern, but then the Munich team hit back. Union Berlin managed to break free, Mainz made the relegation battle exciting again. The games of the 26th matchday at a glance.
FC Bayern has reduced the gap to league leaders Bayer Leverkusen to seven points, at least for the time being. The record champions won on Saturday in the Bundesliga against bottom team Darmstadt 98 after falling behind 5:2 (2:1). Bayer can pull away again in the game against SC Freiburg on Sunday.
Bayern clearly dominated the game in the early stages of the game in Darmstadt and created several chances. Darmstadt’s Tim Skarke (28th) scored the first goal after strong preparatory work from Mathias Honsak. It didn’t take long for the record champions to get back into the game: before the break, Jamal Musiala (36th) equalized and Harry Kane (45th+1) took the lead. Musiala again (64th) gave the team a reassuring 3-1 lead before Serge Gnabry (74th) and Mathys Tel (90th+3) also scored. The second Darmstadt goal by Oscar Vilhelmsson (90th + 5) no longer had any impact.
The other games on Saturday of the 26th matchday were particularly focused on the fight against relegation.
Man of the match: Jamal Musiala scored a brace in Darmstadt
Quelle: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV
Union Berlin – Werder Bremen 2:1 (0:0)
Union Berlin has achieved the hoped-for liberation in the relegation battle. After two defeats in a row without scoring their own goal, coach Nenad Bjelica’s team deservedly won 2-1 (0-0) at home against Werder Bremen and increased the gap to the direct relegation places to ten points.
The Union goals were scored by Yorbe Vertessen (50th minute) and Brenden Aaronson (52nd) in front of 22,012 spectators in the sold-out An der Alten Försterei stadium. With their sixth win in their eighth direct duel, the Iron Men moved within two points of Werder in the table. Mitchell Weiser (63′) only scored for Bremen to make it 1-2.
VfL Wolfsburg – FC Augsburg 1:3 (1:1)
VfL Wolfsburg’s sporting decline continues. In the 1:3 (1:1) defeat against FC Augsburg on Saturday, the ambitious Volkswagen club remained without a win in the tenth Bundesliga game of the new year.
Now more than ever, with the start of the two-week international break, the question is what will happen next for Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac. Is the club continuing to try as planned to at least finish this season with the former Bayern coach? Or does the 52-year-old have to leave after just two wins in the last 20 league games?
also read
What’s new since this 26th matchday is that Wolfsburg could once again be in danger of relegation. The lead over the relegation place shrank to six points thanks to Mainz’s win against VfL Bochum.
The Augsburg goals were scored by Arne Maier (45th minute) and Kristijan Jakic (61st/79th minute). But the central figure in front of 21,735 spectators was Wolfsburg’s Patrick Wimmer. In the ninth minute, the 22-year-old Austrian put VfL in the lead, rewarding one of Wolfsburg’s strongest early phases of the season.
Lower Saxony could have been leading 2-0 or 3-0 long ago when Wimmer received a red card that was both unnecessary and worthy of criticism shortly before half-time. First, the winger lost the ball to Kevin Mbabu, then he fouled the former Wolfsburg player on the edge of the penalty area. Referee Timo Gerach immediately showed red, although VfL defender Maxence Lacroix could have intervened and there was therefore no emergency brake situation. And Maier’s deflected free kick also flew into the goal to make it 1-1 (45th).
also read
Wimmer left the field with his jersey pulled over his head and an angry punch against the housing of the locker room. In the 2-3 first leg defeat he had to be substituted after a foul by Augsburg’s Mads Pedersen and was then sidelined for weeks with an ankle injury. However, there was no red card back then.
also read
The Augsburg team dominated the game after the break and achieved their fourth win in a row thanks to Jakic’s goal.
Mainz 05 – VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0)
Thanks to Jonathan Burkardt, FSV Mainz 05 celebrated an important victory in the relegation battle and jumped into the relegation zone. Coach Bo Henriksen’s team won 2-0 (1-0) against VfL Bochum on Saturday and moved past rivals 1. FC Köln on matchday 26. Burkardt (45th + 3 / penalty kick / 71st) scored both goals in front of 33,300 spectators and rehabilitated Mainz after the hearty 1:8 at FC Bayern exactly a week ago.
The Cologne team had already lost 1:5 against Champions League contenders RB Leipzig on Friday evening. The bottom of the table, SV Darmstadt 98, also came away empty-handed in the home game against FC Bayern Munich (2:5) on Saturday. With 19 points, Mainz is now in 16th place. In April, the 05ers will play against Darmstadt and Cologne in front of their own crowd. Even the guests from Bochum (25), who were harmless this time, are only six points ahead of Mainz after the defeat.
In contrast to Bo Svensson (zero wins) and Jan Siewert (one win), Henriksen is now the first Mainz coach to be responsible for two successes in this league season – in just five games.
also read
Heidenheim – Mönchengladbach 1:1 (0:1)
After their cup frustration, Borussia Mönchengladbach couldn’t go beyond a draw at 1. FC Heidenheim. Four days after the sobering quarter-final defeat at third division club 1. FC Saarbrücken, coach Gerardo Seoane’s team drew 1-1 (1-0) away from Heidenheim.
Robin Hack gave Gladbach an early lead on Saturday (9th minute). Eren Dinkci rewarded the Heidenheimers in front of 15,000 spectators for a better second half against disappointing guests with the equalizer (66th).
The team of coach Frank Schmidt and with whiz kid Jan-Niklas Beste, the first Heidenheimer in the German national team, has now been without a win for five games and missed the hoped-for “huge step” (Schmidt) to stay in the league. The first division newcomer remains in the middle of the table, ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach.