Bundesliga Match Day 20: Weekend Wrap-Up
- Chuck Smith
- Feb 4, 2019
- 4 min read
The two biggest games on the league slate this weekend were the Bayern Munich going against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund's fixture with Eintracht Frankfurt. Both games delivered a punch.
Leverkusen shook off a first half goal from Leon Goretzka and countered with second half tallies from Leon Bailey, Kevin Volland, and Lucas Alario to race away from Bayern for a 3-1 victory. The win could mark a signature moment for Die Werkself as it marked a completely different look and attitude for the squad. They were confident....and dangerous. Perhaps, Peter Bosz has helped unlock the talent that has been lurking around all season.
The game did feature some controversy as the VAR seemingly had conflicting offsides calls that were eerily similar. First, a goal from Robert Lewandowski in the first half, before allowing Alario's goal. The calls were very similar and likely a matter of mere inches. Regardless, Leverkusen deserved to win and finally displayed the killer instinct that we've all been waiting for.
As for Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund, the game ended in a 1-1 draw, but it showed that Die Adler was a legitimate threat to any squad in the Bundesliga. Marco Reus scored a goal in the 26th minute to continue his league most valuable player campaign, while Luka Jovic's 38th minute score knotted the game.
Frankfurt's ability to force the draw with BVB should give it confidence as it heads down the stretch and should awaken the rest of the league to the beast that is building up its strength.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 3, Bayer Leverkusen 1 (L)
Prediction: Eintract Frankfurt 2, Borussia Dortmund 2 (W)
RB Leipzig 3 Hannover 96 0: Even with Timo Werner out sick, Die Roten Bullen didn't skip a beat. Marcel Halstenberg scored a first half goal, while Willi Orban (!?) added a brace in the second half to extend H96's winless streak to nine.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 3 Hannover 96 1 (W)
Wolfsburg 1, Hertha Berlin 0: It was an uncharacteristically off game for Hertha Berlin as it was shutout by the Wolves. Wout Weghorst's 65th minute tally made the difference, but this was a great example of the depth that the Bundesliga has this season. Wolfsburg had appeared to reeling a bit in recent weeks, but was able able to regroup and push aside a very formidable Hertha Berlin side.
Prediction: Hertha Berlin 2, Wolfsburg 1 (L)
Hoffenheim 1, Fortuna Dusseldorf 1: Andrej Kramaric's 16th minute penalty opened the scoring, but Hoffenheim fizzled from there and F95 was there to pounce on an opportunity to grab a point. Rouwen Hennings scored in the 46th minute to tie the game and earn Dusseldorf a hard-earned and very important draw as F95 is seeking to provide some cushion from the bottom dwellers in the league table.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 3, Fortuna Dusseldorf 1 (L)
Werder Bremen 1, FC Nurnberg 1: Johannes Eggestein came on in the 46th minute as a substitute and was able to score in the 65th to propel Werder Bremen to what looked like a sure victory. Der Club, after weeks of ineptitude, came back firing, however. 25-year-old Swedish forward Mikael Ishak captured the point for Nurnberg with an 86th minute score, which could prove to be very important as Der Club will be in a weekly battle to try and climb from the bottom end of the table.
Prediction: Werder Bremen 2, FC Nurnberg 1 (L)
Borussia Monchengadbach 2, Schalke 0: Schalke's short run of looking capable ended as it folded against the persistent and consistent Foals. After battling for 85 minutes to keep Monchengladbach off the scoreboard, Die Königsblauen conceded twice in the game's final moments to drop points to M'Gladbach. Christoph Kramer and Florian Neuhaus came up big late for Die Fohlen to keep Monchengladbach storming forward and past Bayern into second place.
Prediction: Schalke 1, Borussia Monchengadbach 1 (L)
FC Augsburg 3, Mainz 0: Augsburg finally showed that bit of life we had been hoping to see. Alfred Finnbogason notched a hat trick (8', 34', 54') as he put home two penalty kicks in the first half to stoke Die Fuggerstädter to a much needed victory.
Mainz finally fell off it's very solid run, but this was just a good spot for Augsburg to make a move and grab three points. M05 is still going to be a very tough out for each of its remaining opponents.
Prediction: FC Augsburg 2, Mainz 1 (W)
SC Freiburg 2, VfB Stuttgart 1: Breisgau-Brasilianer jumped out to a first half lead behind a goal from Janik Haberer, but Die Schwaben scored consecutive second half goals to take a 2-1 lead. Emiliano Insua and Daniel Didavi gave Stuttgart the lead and it appeared as if Die Schwaben was in a good spot to capture three points as the game headed into extra time.
It was not to be for Stuttgart, however. Yet another collapse struck Die Schwaben when Florian Niederlechner scored in extra time to secure a point for Freiburg.
Prediction: SC Freiburg 2, VfB Stuttgart 1 (L)
Table Breakdown
- Bayern Munich lost a valuable opportunity pick up points on BVB when it folded against Leverkusen. That moment is likely the difference between a longer pursuit of Dortmund and accepting a fate as the second or third place team. It will be very difficult to catch Dortmund from here.
- Dortmund's draw with Frankfurt was not unexpected. Dortmund is still extremely strong, but Die Adler is peaking a bit and is a handful for any team to deal with.
- Barring some sort of miracle resurgence Hannover 96 looks destined to be one of the team teams headed for relegation. At best, it can hope for a 16th place finish to have a playoff for relegation, but even that seems like a stretch right now.
- Augsburg's win gave it some much-needed breathing room, but there is little margin for error. Die Fuggerstädter has too much talent to let it fall into a relegation spot, but it will need far more consistency from here on out to secure its place in the Bundesliga's top flight for next season.
Match day record: 3-6
Season record: 85-95
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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