Bundesliga Match Day 19: Weekend Wrap-Up
- Chuck Smith
- Jan 28, 2019
- 5 min read
In what could be a "turn the corner" moment for Bayer Leverkusen, Peter Bosz picked up his first win as coach of Die Werkself with a 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg.
After a miserable Hinrunde that saw the team fail to live up to its lofty potential, Leverkusen finally showed signs of life and a bit of the electricity that its fans had hoped to see throughout this season.
Bolstered by goals from Kai Havertz (45' - PK), Kevin Volland (62'), and Julian Brandt (88'), Leverkusen played much more freely and with a far greater attacking mentality than it has shown over the course of the season. Karim Bellarabi was a big catalyst in igniting the Leverkusen offense, but it was the vision of Havertz, the persistence of Volland, and the pace of Brandt and Leon Bailey down the wings that allowed Die Werkself to keep the pressure on Wolfsburg. The Leverkusen defenders were solid on the day as well with Sven and Lars Bender leading the way.
For Wolfsburg, it was not a game to remember. Goalkeeper Koen Casteels was rather excellent, but this was a game that Bruno Labbadia will likely want to move on from as soon as possible. With his squad playing surprisingly well so far, it would do no good in Wolfsburg to belabor a sub-par effort like this one.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 3, Wolfsburg 2 (W)
Mainz 2, FC Nurnberg 1: Despite being shorthanded, Mainz continued to display why it is one of the toughest outs in the Bundesliga. Daniel Brosinski converted a penalty kick in the 12th minute before Der Club's Georg Margreitter knotted the game in the 43rd minute.
Like Mainz has shown all season, however, the squad persevered. Robin Quaison, who was questionable for the game, hit the winner in the 73rd minute off an assist by Brosinski to nail down the victory for M05.
Poor Nurnberg is in bad shape. Der Club's hopes of avoiding relegation are becoming dimmer by the day.
Prediction: Mainz 1, FC Nurnberg 1 (L)
Schalke 2, Hertha Berlin 2: Die Königsblauen missed a golden opportunity to pick up three points over a formidable Hertha Berlin side, but Schalke has show more heart and promise already in the Ruckrunde than it did in the first half of the season.
Schalke's Evgen Konoplyanka opened the scoring in the 19th minute before 22-year-old Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic knotted the game at 1-1 for Die Alte Dame. Mark Uth answered with a 44th minute for Die Königsblauen, but Hertha once again had a response.
Vedad Ibisevic (45'+4') managed to tie the game just before halftime, but what looked like a potential shootout devolved into a defensive battle. With each team apparently content to walk away with a point, it could be considered a well-earned result for both squads.
I'd love to see Hertha Berlin play with more passion and zeal on a routine basis, but on the flip side, Schalke's improvements can only mean good things lie ahead for a squad that many have already written off.
Prediction: Schalke 2, Hertha Berlin 1 (L)
Borussia Monchengladbach 2, FC Augsburg 0: Another day, another dollar; M'Gladbach just keeps taking care of business. Oscar Wendt and Patrick Herrmann might not have been the most likely of goal scorers, but they did the job for Die Fohlen on this day.
Augsburg is a bit listless and has too much talent to be this inadequate. The club will need to start looking internally at why the squad can't seem to breakthrough this season.
Prediction: Borussia Monchengladbach 3, FC Augsburg 2 (W)
Borussia Dortmund 5, Hannover 96 1: BVB is just smashing teams and they are doing it in an exciting and fun way to play. Achraf Hakimi, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Raphael Guerreiro, and Axel Witsel provided the goal-scoring for the Black and Yellows, who are just simply dominant at this stage of the season. Marvin Bakalorz had the lone goal for Hannover 96, whose season is quickly going down the drain.
I thought for a while that Bayern would be able to make a run at BVB, but Dortmund has the look and feel of a Bundesliga champion right now. With each passing game, BVB looks more and more likely to end Bayern's era of dominance.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3, Hannover 96 1 (W)
Hoffenheim 4, SC Freiburg 2: The usually offensively stodgy side of Hoffenheim erupted for four goals behind scores from Joelinton, Andrej Kramaric, and Kerem Demirbay. Kramaric had a brace that included a penalty kick conversion, while Freiburg just could not keep up with Julian Nagelsann's team.
Lucas Holer and Florian Niederlechner supplied the scoring for Breisgau-Brasilianer, but it was not nearly enough for Christian Streich's side to hang with Hoffenheim.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 2, SC Freiburg 1 (W)
Werder Bremen 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 2: Werder Bremen has made itself one of the more difficult teams to oppose this season. On paper, Die Adler should have been able to pull out a hard-fought win but Bremen has made the best use of its roster possible.
Maximilian Eggestein (27') and Ante Rebic (35') traded first half goals before martin Harnik's 52nd minute tally gave Die Werderaner a 2-1 lead. It would not hold up, however, as Sebastian Haller tied the game for Eintracht Frankfurt with a penalty kick conversion in the 68th minute.
While some may look at this game as a lost opportunity for Werder Bremen at Weserstadion, people should start to look at and appreciate how far this team has come in a year's time.
Prediction: Werder Bremen 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (W)
Bayern Munich 4, VfB Stuttgart 1: The red Bavarian juggernaut kept its momentum and crushed a pesky Stuttgart side. Thiago Alcantara started the scoring just five minutes into the game, but Die Schwaben did not roll over. Despite the final score, Stuttgart played with a fight and resilience that was not always evident in the first half of the season. Stuttgart's Anastasios Donis knotted the game at the 26-minute mark.
Despite Stuttgart's effort, Bayern took over. Bayern's second goal was an own goal that resulted off a chance by Serge Gnabry, before Leon Goretzka (71') and Robert Lewandowski (84') both scored. Joshua Kimmich was credited with two assists as well for Bayern.
The Bavarians look extremely strong, but it could be too little, too late in terms of catching Dortmund.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 4, VfB Stuttgart 0 (W)
RB Leipzig 4, Fortuna Dusseldorf 0: F95 was playing very solid entering the game, but RB Leipzig sucked the life out of Dusseldorf with early onslaught of offense. Yussuf Poulsen scored goals in the 2nd and 16th minute, while Ibrahima Konate added another in the 9th minute to give Die Roten Bullen an early 3-0 lead. Konrad Laimer scored a second half goal to give the game its final margin, but this was more an indication of how strong Leipzig can be rather than a reflection of F95 going into the tank.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 2, Fortuna Dusseldorf 1 (W)
Match day record: 7-2
Season record: 82-89
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.
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