Bundesliga Match Day 17: Weekend Wrap-up
In the final Match Day of 2018, the (first half) king stay the king as D'Angelo Barksdale once said.
Borussia Dortmund leaned on spectacular performances from Mario Gotze, Marco Reus, and Jadon Sancho to pull away from Borussia Monchengladbach and earn a 2-1 victory. The win left BVB six points clear in the table, with Bayern Munich on the outside looking into the current throne room.
The primary story of this contest was really not the goal scoring duo of Sancho (we are still not sure how he hit what seemed to be an impossible angle) or Reus (Bundesliga MVP to this point), but Gotze, who came on as a sub when Paco Alcacer pulled up lame with an injury. Gotze created both goals and registered two assists.
The Gotze some people needed to get a fresh start somewhere else (here! It was me 🤦♂️), is now thriving again in Dortmund. Occupying a role as a "False 9", Gotze has seemingly regained the magic touch he once had and is realizing that vast potential that has been lingering inside of him.
BVB was strong enough already, but an "in-form" Gotze, only makes Dortmund that much stronger.
For M'Gladbach, Christoph Kramer scored, but it was a wasted opportunity for the Foals, who had an otherwise terrific first half of the season.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3, Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (W)
Bayer Leverkusen 3, Hertha Berlin 1: While we expected Die Werkself to win this one, we certainly didn't expect Heiko Herrlich to get sacked after the victory. Plagued by his youngsters playing like youngsters in the first half of the season, Herrlich never got Leverkusen on track unfortunately. The solution is to bring in Peter Bosz...(drum roll please)..."Meet the new Bosz, hopefully not the same as the old Boss."
Anyway, Bosz will have his work out in trying to reach this group, which has terrific potential, but has rarely lived up to it of late. Kai Havertz had a brace and Kevin Volland had another goal, but Bosz will be tasked with reviving the once burgeoning careers of Leon Bailey and Julian Brandt, who were not consistently in good form during the first half of the season.
Jordan Torunarigha had the lone goal for Die Alte Dame.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 2, Hertha Berlin 1 (W)
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1, Hannover 96 0: 36-year old Oliver Fink scored in extra time to secure a dramatic and important win for F95. For H96, things are not looking good in terms of relegation. This was absolutely a game that Hannover needed and it failed.
Prediction: Hannover 96 2, Fortuna Dusseldorf 2 (L)
SC Freiburg 1, FC Nürnberg 0: Manuel Gulde's 19th minute goal for Breisgau-Brasilianer held up and mercifully ended Der Club's first half.
Prediction: SC Freiburg 2, FC Nürnberg 1 (W)
RB Leipzig 3, Werder Bremen 2: Lukas Klostermann, Timo "#TimoTime" Werner, and Bruma provided the scoring for Die Roten Bullen, which held off a strong challenge from Die Werderaner. RB Leipzig is in a great spot to walk away with a top four spot this season, but has potential to be even better than it has been. It should be very interesting to watch the squad develop further in the second half.
Werder Bremen, meanwhile received goals from Max Kruse and Josh Sargent. Sargent, the 18-year old American phenom, is making the most of his chances. His goal was the result of tremendous vision, relentless attacking, and a precise shot. Sargent has the potential and ability to consistently inject energy and scoring potential into the Die Werderaner lineup. As we've said before...it's time to get him in the Starting XI and let that potential go on full display.
Prediction: RB Leizpig 2, Werder Bremen 1 (W)
Schalke 3, VfB Stuttgart 1: Steven Skrzybski, Salif Sane, and Ahmed Kutucu all scored to lead Schalke to what amounted to a big victory. The first half of the season was utterly disappointing for Die Königsblauen, but perhaps the break will allow the squad to get right and make a second half push.
For Stuttgart, Nicolas Ivan Gonzalez scored, but there will need to be a lot of soul searching in the next few weeks to see what can be done to avoid relegation.
Prediction: Schalke 04 1, VfB Stuttgart 1 (L)
Bayern Munich 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 0: Franck Ribery capped off a phenomenal week with a brace and Rafinha's attempted cross, errrrrrr....shot taken with laser-like precision gave Bayern the necessary means for victory. It was a thoroughly dominant effort by Die Roten. Bayern was spectacular in every facet of the game and looks poised to make a strong run at eliminating the six point deficit between them and Dortmund.
Die Adler can shake this one off and look back a very successful first half. This team is no less dangerous than it was before this hiccup. Eintracht Frankfurt remains one of the more fascinating and potent squads in the league. I'm looking forward to seeing how Die Adler adjusts and comes back out for the second half.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (W)
Wolfsburg 3, FC Augsburg 2: The Wolves survived a very viable threat from Die Fuggerstädter.
Josuha Guilavogui and William scored first half goals for Wolfsburg, but it was Yannick Gerhardt's 89th minute game-winner that sealed the deal for the Wolves.
Augsburg, meanwhile, received goals from Rani Khedira and Sergio Cordova.
Both teams should be exciting to watch in the second half. The Wolves has experienced a resurgence, while Augsburg will (hopefully) get an opportunity to bring a healthy group into the second half of the season and could truly be one of the teams who can play the role of spoiler given the offensive talent on the roster.
Prediction: FC Augsburg 2, Wolfsburg 1 (L)
Hoffenheim 1, Mainz 1: TSG 1899's Kerem Demirbay and M05's Jean-Philippe Mateta traded goals in the game's first 16 minutes, but the teams limped into the break with a scoreless performance for the rest of the game.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 2, Mainz 1 (L)
Weekly record: 5-4
Season record: 70-83
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
