Dortmund, Leverkusen win
February 28, 2015
Borussia Dortmund returned to the top half of the Bundesliga for the first time since the fifth week of the season after a win over Schalke that was not convincing, but overwhelming.
Jürgen Klopp's men appear to have rediscovered their form with four Bundesliga wins on the bounce and 13 of a possible 15 points in the new year.
While the scoring was kept until the last 15 minutes, 19-year-old keeper Timon Wellenreuther had his busiest afternoon in a first-team Schalke shirt. The youngster looked anxious early on and was fortunate not to gift the home side a goal in the first 20 minutes.
To his credit, though, Wellenreuther made some smart stops, while Matija Nastasic blocked Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from slotting into an empty net before the half hour mark.
Dortmund relentlessly peppered Schalke's goal with shots towards the end of the first period with Marco Reus' shot cannoning against the crossbar in the 33rd minute. Two minutes later, a slaloming run from the German forward ended with a shot that went a few inches past the post.
Three late Dortmund strikes
This pattern was transferred into the second 45 minutes with Wellenreuther stopping from Aubameyang again on 58 minutes before Henrikh Mkhitaryan passed up a handful of chances after the hour point.
With more than 25 shots at goal at this point, Dortmund eventually broke the deadlock with Aubameyang poking the ball past the on-rushing Wellenreuther - the Gabon striker delightfully celebrated with teammate Reus by dressing up as the Batman and Robin double act.
Less than 100 seconds later, Ilkay Gundogan delivered a sweet cross for out-of-form Armenian Mkhitaryan who bundled home his first goal for the club since May 2014. The glut of goals ended four minutes from the end with Reus punishing some poor control from Wellenreuther to add the third of the afternoon's rout.
Schalke's grip on European spots loosens with defeat, while Borussia Dortmund move to within seven points of a European qualification place.
Leverkusen back in top-four
In one of the strangest first 45 minutes of a Bundesliga round this season, Leverkusen scored the only goal in the top-flight. Veteran midfielder Simon Rolfes did the honors, smacking the ball home from thirteen meters on 33 minutes.
It was nothing for the history books, but Rolfes' strike did brighten the outlook for Leverkusen's coach Roger Schmidt, whose team has been going through a patch of tepid form recently.
And it would prove to be the difference in the match. Leverkusen had the advantage in chances, passing efficiency and possession but failed to find their range in the second half against the overmatched Black Forest club.
The 1-0 win was good enough to catapult Leverkusen back into the top-four, after Augsburg went down to a 1-0 defeat in the German capital against Hertha Berlin. Salomon Kalou scored the only goal two minutes from time.
Hoffenheim win, Hanover and Stuttgart battle to draw
Further down south, Hoffenheim racked up a convincing 2-0 home win against Mainz. The two teams were fairly evenly matched, but the visitors were caught flat-footed in the 55th minute on the counterattack. Forward Kevin Volland finished off a flowing move with his fifth goal of the season.
And a quarter of an hour from time, former Mainz player Eugen Polanski salted away the three points with a powerful header. The result took Hoffenheim up to seventh in the table, within striking range of the European spots, while Mainz remain part of the relegation battle.
In Hannover, the hosts struggled to a 1-1 draw against last-placed Stuttgart. The visitors went ahead with a close-range shot by Christian Gentner on 52 minutes. But Lars Stindl equalized 18 minutes later.
The result did neither side much good, and Stindl and Stuttgart's Martin Harnik both were sent off for getting involved in a late fracas.
In Saturday's late match, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Hamburg. Alex Meier put the Eagles ahead early from the penalty spot, but Frankfurt allowed Hamburg to equalize seconds before half-time.
Meier restored his side's advantage in minute 54, and Matthias Ostrzolek didn't help Hamburg's cause when he picked up a second yellow card ten minutes later. Meier spurned the chance for a hat trick when he hit the crossbar with another penalty, but it didn't matter, as Franfurt ran out the 2-1 victory.