Saturday action
February 26, 2011
Borussia Dortmund swept past Bayern Munich on Saturday with an impressive 3-1 win, looking all but unstoppable in the race for the Bundesliga title.
Coach Juergen Klopp's young side got off to a ferocious start with Lucas Barrios putting them 1-0 up in the ninth minute. Bayern's Luis Gustavo equalized just six minutes later. But the match almost immediately turned back in Dortmund's favour - with Nuri Shahin making it 2-1.
Bayern failed to claw back and in the second half Mats Hummels sealed victory with Dortmund's third goal.
The defeat leaves Bayern 16 points behind Dortmund and, with 10 games left, Dortmund are firmly on course for their first German league title since 2002 while the shield is almost certain not to find its way to Munich this season.
Hanover edge up to third place
Hanover 96 moved to third in the Bundesliga standings on Saturday when Christian Schulz's header gave them a 1-0 victory at St Pauli in the last minute. It was Hanover's 14th win of the season from 24 matches and keeps them on course for a top-five finish and allows them to dream of a spot in the Europa League next season.
The win sees Hanover move to 44 points - two above Bayern Munich, which is now in fourth place in the German football league
Cologne won for the fifth time in a row at home when they beat Freiburg 1-0. Germany international Lukas Podolski netted an 88th-minute left-foot shot from distance when he lifted the ball over Freiburg goalie Oliver Baumann for his 12th goal of season. After months bumping along in the relegation zone, Cologne are now up to 11th place.
Kaiserslautern and SV Hamburg played to a 1-1 draw. Adam Hlousek opened the scoring for the home side, who are struggling against relegation, in the 18th minute, but Marcell Jansen found an equalizer in the 54th minute.
In Gelsenkirchen, visiting Nuremberg took the lead against Schalke in the 37th minute somewhat against the run of play when Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer parried a Mehmet Ekici shot to the feet of Jens Hegeler, who had no problems scoring.
Nuremberg were denied their fifth straight win after Schalke's Raul netted his 14th goal of the season for the Royal Blues in Gelsenkirchen to seal a 1-1 draw shortly after half time.
Mainz scored a 2-1 victory in Hoffenheim. Austrian international Andreas Ivanschitz gave the visitors the lead midway through the first half, but David Alaba equalized with seven minutes to go.
Just three minutes later Colombia midfielder Elkin Soto scored the winner for his side.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, gave up two late goals to draw at struggling Werder Bremen on Sunday, leaving them 12 points back from Dortmund.
In Sunday's other match, Eintracht Frankfurt's goal drought continued through a seventh straight match as they went down 2-0 at home to ten-man VfB Stuttgart.
On Friday, VfL Wolfsburg put some distance between themselves and a relegation place with a 2-1 victory at home against bottom placed Borussia Moenchengladbach. Diego scored both goals after missing a penalty.
Author: Natalia Dannenberg (dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP)
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar