Prinz Poldi’s performance against Freiburg lit up the league on a weekend that saw Bayern increase the gap between themselves and their rivals.
When Cristian Molinaro saw red about 15 minutes before half-time at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart’s afternoon turned completely sour. Stuttgart started the day brightly by grabbing an early goal. Bayern equalized soon afterwards through none other than Mario Gomez. Gomez grabbed the winner in the second half. He also scrambled the ball away from the goal-line, preventing a Stuttgart equalizer.
Bayern, after taking the lead, shifted down to third gear. Stuttgart came within inches of scoring an equalizer. Daniel Van Buyten’s giveaway to Cacau led to the Stuttgart man aiming towards an empty net only to send the ball slightly over the net and into the stands. Due to other results, Bayern now has a three point lead over their rivals and a superior goal difference to go along with the lead.
On Friday, Schalke managed to wrestle three points away from Hertha. Both teams had their chances to score in the second half following three goals in the first, two of which belonged to Schalke. Schalke played some great football and had they taken all their chances, they might have actually beaten Hertha by three or four goals. Teemu Pukki is turning out to be quite a signing for the Ruhr side. He scored the winner.
Speaking of Ruhr sides, Dortmund was held to a draw by struggling Kaiserslautern. The goal scored by Olcay Sahan was easily one of the most brilliant goals seen in a while in Europe. The goal was reminiscent of a certain Zinedine Zidane volley in 2002. For Dortmund fans, the name must have reminded them of a certain Nuri Sahin and their current bench warmer Ilkay Guendogan.
As a result, Schalke and Dortmund are level on points. Dortmund is second due to a better goal difference. The side sitting behind them is Mönchengladbach. The Bundesliga is a league known for its surprising results. Gladbach suffered a shock defeat against Augsburg. The game had just one goal in it- that goal lifted Augsburg off the bottom of the table into seventeenth.
The side which is now bottom is Freiburg. Freiburg was the latest victim of Lukas Podolski. Podolski scored two glorious goals to take his season tally to 13. He also scored the equalizer in his team’s rescheduled match against Mainz in midweek. This took his tally to 14. Only one person is ahead of him in the goal standings: Mario Gomez. Nonetheless, Podolski also has five assists to his name.
He is finally showing that he is prepared for a big move abroad. Dortmund made two offers and had them rejected. An offer from Bayern is out of the question due to his past failures in Bavaria. Reports from the media have linked him to Schalke, Lazio, Arsenal and Roma. Where the Prinz will eventually end up is beyond anyone’s grasp including Volker Finke’s (the sporting director of Köln).
Köln ended Leverkusen’s chances of winning the title last season. Leverkusen, this season, doesn’t look like the side they did last season. They are winning games but they are also drawing too many of them. This is what cost them the title in the 2009-10 season. They took on a team this weekend that has also drawn too many games this season.
And, as has been the norm this season, the two sides drew the match. Leverkusen was in-fact lucky to escape with a draw. Hanover will rue the fact that they didn’t take their chances to win the match. Leverkusen remains in sixth following this match while Hanover remains eighth.
The opening match of next weekend sees Lukas Podolski’s Köln take on Bayern. If Podolski ever wanted to take revenge, this is the best time. The result might not matter too much to Bayern though. They are already Autumn Champions.
Bayern, after taking the lead, shifted down to third gear. Stuttgart came within inches of scoring an equalizer. Daniel Van Buyten’s giveaway to Cacau led to the Stuttgart man aiming towards an empty net only to send the ball slightly over the net and into the stands. Due to other results, Bayern now has a three point lead over their rivals and a superior goal difference to go along with the lead.
On Friday, Schalke managed to wrestle three points away from Hertha. Both teams had their chances to score in the second half following three goals in the first, two of which belonged to Schalke. Schalke played some great football and had they taken all their chances, they might have actually beaten Hertha by three or four goals. Teemu Pukki is turning out to be quite a signing for the Ruhr side. He scored the winner.
Speaking of Ruhr sides, Dortmund was held to a draw by struggling Kaiserslautern. The goal scored by Olcay Sahan was easily one of the most brilliant goals seen in a while in Europe. The goal was reminiscent of a certain Zinedine Zidane volley in 2002. For Dortmund fans, the name must have reminded them of a certain Nuri Sahin and their current bench warmer Ilkay Guendogan.
As a result, Schalke and Dortmund are level on points. Dortmund is second due to a better goal difference. The side sitting behind them is Mönchengladbach. The Bundesliga is a league known for its surprising results. Gladbach suffered a shock defeat against Augsburg. The game had just one goal in it- that goal lifted Augsburg off the bottom of the table into seventeenth.
The side which is now bottom is Freiburg. Freiburg was the latest victim of Lukas Podolski. Podolski scored two glorious goals to take his season tally to 13. He also scored the equalizer in his team’s rescheduled match against Mainz in midweek. This took his tally to 14. Only one person is ahead of him in the goal standings: Mario Gomez. Nonetheless, Podolski also has five assists to his name.
He is finally showing that he is prepared for a big move abroad. Dortmund made two offers and had them rejected. An offer from Bayern is out of the question due to his past failures in Bavaria. Reports from the media have linked him to Schalke, Lazio, Arsenal and Roma. Where the Prinz will eventually end up is beyond anyone’s grasp including Volker Finke’s (the sporting director of Köln).
Köln ended Leverkusen’s chances of winning the title last season. Leverkusen, this season, doesn’t look like the side they did last season. They are winning games but they are also drawing too many of them. This is what cost them the title in the 2009-10 season. They took on a team this weekend that has also drawn too many games this season.
And, as has been the norm this season, the two sides drew the match. Leverkusen was in-fact lucky to escape with a draw. Hanover will rue the fact that they didn’t take their chances to win the match. Leverkusen remains in sixth following this match while Hanover remains eighth.
The opening match of next weekend sees Lukas Podolski’s Köln take on Bayern. If Podolski ever wanted to take revenge, this is the best time. The result might not matter too much to Bayern though. They are already Autumn Champions.
