Bundesliga Matchday 20 roundup
January 28, 2018
Bayern Munich 5-2 Hoffenheim
(Lewandowski 20', Boateng 25', Coman 64', Vidal 66', Wagner 90' - Uth 3', Gnabry 12')
The German record titleholders were forced to come from behind as they took all three points from a seven-goal thriller against Hoffenheim.
Up against his parent club, Serge Gnabry won and missed an early penalty, which Mark Uth swept home after Sven Ulreich's initial save, before adding a second himself from distance – all inside the opening quarter of an hour.
Hoffenheim's joy was short-lived, however, as a poacher's effort from Robert Lewandowski and a well-taken header from Jerome Boateng levelled the scores before the break. Proceedings didn't improve for the visitors after the restart as Kingsley Coman and Arturo Vidal both struck before Sandro Wagner opened his Bayern account, helping them to their 15th win of the season.
- As it happened: Re-live Saturday's Bundesliga action on the DW live blog
Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Freiburg
(Kagawa 9', Toljan 90+3' - Petersen 20', 68')
Borussia Dortmund remain without a win in the second half of the season and had to rely on a last-minute winner to avoid slumping to defeat against in-form Freiburg.
Shinji Kagawa scored for a second successive weekend with an acrobatic volley, but Dortmund were unable to hold onto the lead as Nils Petersen's near-post finish had the sides level at the halfway stage.
A mistake by Nuri Sahin allowed Petersen to put Freiburg ahead as he beat Roman Bürki with a stunning effort from 40 yards out after the break, but a late twist in the tale saw Jeremy Toljan's first Dortmund goal spare his side's blushes with virtually the last kick of the game.
Leverkusen 2-0 Mainz
(Bailey 48', Wendell pen. 68')
Leverkusen became the first side to sit in second place at the start of a weekend and avoid defeat since Matchday 11 as they built on last week’s win over Hoffenheim with a ?-? victoy at home to Mainz.
The first half action left a lot to be desired as both sides struggled to pose a threat in the final third with only Lucas Alario going close to an opener, flashing a header wide in first-half injury time.
That all changed after the break though when Leon Bailey found a pocket of space to find the far corner with a curling effort from 25 yards. Wendell added a second from the spot after Lucas Alario was brought down by Giulio Donati as Die Werkself cruised to a comfortable win.
Stuttgart 0-2 Schalke
(Naldo 14', Harit 19')
The Royal Blues reclaimed second place on the back of their first win since the winter break, a comfortable 2-0 victory on the road against Stuttgart.
Naldo celebrated becoming the Bundesliga's record Brazilian appearance maker by opening the scoring before Amine Harit doubled the visitors' lead from the spot following a foul on Leon Goretzka.
Having failed to reigster a single shot on goal in the first half, Stuttgart offered little challenge after the break and, while Schalke proved profligate in front of goal, the win was never in doubt.
Cologne 1-1 Augsburg
(Jojic 40' - Caiuby 77')
Cologne's great escape hit its first bump in the road as Augsburg managed to snatch a late equalizer at the RheinEnergieStadion, denying the Cathedral City side a fourth-straight win.
An evenly-contested first half saw chances spurned at either end, but just when it looked like the sides would remain deadlocked at the break, Milos Jojic found the top corner with a stunning free-kick from 25 yards out.
Marwin Hitz was forced to intervene on numerous occasions after the break but, with Simon Terrode and Jojic spurning chances, Caiuby rose highest to plant a header into the far corner 13 minutes from time, ending Augsburg's goal drought and ensuring the spoils were shared.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 Gladbach
(Boateng 42', Jovic 90+2')
Niko Kovac's stock continues to rise on the back of another impressive Frankfurt performance. The Eagles struck late in both halves to beat Gladbach in the Matchday 20 curtain-raiser, moving them into second place in the Bundesliga, albeit for less than 24 hours.
Kevin-Prince Boateng put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time and, after Thorgan Hazard struck the bar with a 78th-minute penalty, Luka Jovic wrapped up the win in second-half stoppage time to lift Frankfurt to their best start to a calendar year in 28 years.
RB Leipzig 1-1 Hamburg
(Bruma 9' - Kostic 30')
Leipzig let a one-goal lead slip as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Hamburg on home soil.
The host's early pressure told when Bruma headed home inside ten minutes with Leipzig's players using the celebration as a tribute to injured left-back Marcel Halstenberg, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
However, they were caught against the run of play on the half-hour mark when Filip Kostic rounded Peter Gulasci to pull HSV level and, while both sides had chances to claim all three points, neither side was able to produce a winner in the second half. New Hamburg coach Bernd Hollerbach will settle for a point in his first game in charge.
Werder Bremen 0-0 Hertha Berlin
The game lacked goals, but it did not lack chances. Maximilian Eggestein appeared to have put his side in front in the first half, but the video assistant referee disallowed it because of a foul from Thomas Delaney in the build-up.
Vedad Ibisevic, who made his first appearance of 2018, almost put the away side ahead with his first touch after coming off the bench in the second half, but he could not put a deflected cross from Valentino Lazaro on target from the six-yard box.
Eggestein had a chance to score a winner in second-half stoppage time after Ishak Belfodil headed down a cross from Aron Johansson, but Jordan Torunarigha, who came on for an injured Fabian Lustenberger in the first half, cleared the shot off the goal line.
Hannover 0-1 Wolfsburg
(Malli 72')
Yunus Malli's second-half strike was the only real moment of quality in a game which failed to live up to the excitement of previous Hannover home games against Leverkusen (4-4) and Mainz (3-2).
While the meeting between the two Lower Saxony clubs with very different ownership models is often called a local derby in the media, precious few fans would actually agree. And it certainly didn't feel like a derby as Hannover and Wolfsburg played out a goalless first half on a poor pitch and against a muted atmosphere.
But Wolfsburg weren't complaining at full-time, especially after Ihlas Bebou had struck the bar late on for the hosts. Malli's goal gave the Wolves only their fourth win of the season and moved Martin Schmidt's side six points clear of the relegation play-off spot.