Eintracht Frankfurt 1-3 Bayern Munich
Bayern restored their ten point lead at the top of the table with an impressive 3-1 win over Frankfurt. The prolific Luca Toni bagged another two goals as the Bavarians had the ideal preparation for the weekend Cup final.
Ottmar Hitzfeld chose to rotate his team quite a bit ahead of Saturday’s Cup final with the likes of Rensing, Sosa, and Kroos getting a start. However a moment of madness from the stand-in Bayern keeper could have gifted Frankfurt a first minute lead.
Rensing’s weak and mis-directed pass fell to Fenin, but the Czech was too surprised to make the most of the opportunity. Then again on 3 minutes, the home side had a good chance through Amanatidis, but Rensing parried well and van Buyten cleared the danger.
Bayern had the better possession and looked technically the better side, but the home side were more than matching them with competitiveness and effort. That effort was rewarded on 29 minutes with the opening goal through Benjamin Köhler.
Andreas Ottl was robbed in midfield and the ball was played to the over-lapping Patrick Ochs, who whipped in a deep cross. The ball went over both Rensing and Lucio, but Köhler was on hand at the back post to nod in a deserved goal for Frankfurt.
With Bayern playing Luca Toni upfront by himself, Eintracht seemed to know what to expect from Bayern, and looked rather comfortable at the back. Frankfurt then had a massive chance to double their lead a minute before the interval.
Martin Fenin beat the offside trap and took the ball around Michael Rensing. Forced a little wide, he cut the ball to Amanatidis, who make a mess of his shot and screwed the ball horribly wide o really let Bayern off the hook. Credit goes to Fenin though for not going down under Rensing’s challenge when a penalty would have been given.
Hitzfeld sent on Lukas Podolski at the start of the second half in a bid to support Luca Toni. Bayern started well but Frankfurt began to defend deeper and looked to break on the counter.
Bayern grabbed a deserved equaliser on 60 minutes just after Amanatidis had hit the bar for the home side. Daniel van Buyten rose in the centre to nod home a Bastian Schweinsteiger corner.
Five minutes later and Eintracht had goal chalked off for offside after Amanatidis had pounced on a save from Rensing.
The script was calling out for a Luca Toni and that is we got on 74 minutes to give Bayern the lead in the match. Schweinsteiger’s tenacity in the penalty area paid off as he flicked the ball to Toni while under pressure from two defenders. The fox in the box Toni was on hand to fire home yet another goal.
The Italian striker’s 20th league goal duly arrived on 85 minutes after substitute Jan Schlaudraff had put the ball on a plate following a good run down the right.
Stuttgart 3-0 Nürnberg
Stuttgart took three important points with a 3-0 win over Nürnberg at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion with all three goals coming in the first half. ‘Der Klub’ remain rooted to the foot of the table.
The home side took just three minutes to take the lead and it was Brazilian Cacau who got the goal. A weak backwards header from Pinola was latched onto by Cacau, who saw his first effort saved by Blazek, but the rebound hit him on the foot and went in.
Ten minutes later and it was 2-0 to the Swabians. Boka broke down the left and fed Cacau, who found himself in a good shooting position. The striker however had the presence of mind to spot da Silva in a better position and laid the ball off to the midfielder and he stroked the ball home from 14 meters out.
Things went from bad to worse for Nürnberg on the half hour mark with Fernando Meira heading in Stuttgart’s third of the game. The VfB captain was allowed a free header from a corner and made no mistake from close range.
There were no further goals in the second 45 minutes so Nürnberg will have to look to Sunday’s replayed match with Wolfsburg for their next points.
Arminia Bielefeld 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Arminia Bielefeld climbed out of the bottom three with a narrow 1-0 win over a disappointing Bayer Leverkusen, who have lost ground in the race for the European places.
The struggling home side took the lead on 51 minutes with Andre Mijatovic getting his name on the score sheet. Marx fired a free kick into the area and Mijatovic was the one who rose the highest to head past Rene Adler.
The single goal proved enough in the end to seal a potentially vital three points for the ‘Arminen’.
Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Hannover
Dortmund suffered another bad defeat as they prepare for the Cup final against Bayern on Saturday. A 5-0 defeat to Bayern at the weekend was followed up tonight with a 3-1 home loss to Hannover.
Hannover hit the home side with two goals in quick succession at the end of the first half. On 38 minutes Arnold Bruggink whipped in a free kick from the left, Mike Hanke tried to get on the end of it, missed the ball but succeeded in putting off BVB keeper Höttke. The ball flew into the net direct from Bruggink’s free kick.
Four minutes later and defender Frank Fahrenhorst headed in the second goal for the visitors after Ismael had inadvertently flicked on a free kick.
The home side got themselves back into the game on 65 minutes with a goal from Alexander Frei, who had only been on the pitch for a minute. Kringe crossed from the right and the Swiss international fired home unhindered.
Hannover’s two goal lead was restored on 78 minutes via a classic counter attack. Hanke fed Bruggink. who played the ball on to the open Huszti. The Hungarian left keeper Höttke no chance to make it 3-1 to the visitors.
Duisburg 0-1 Karlsruhe
The visitors grabbed a late goal to seal a long awaited win and condemn the Zebras to another game with no points and cement them in the drop zone.
The only goal of the game came on 81 minutes with Tamas Hajnal the man taking the plaudits. Following good combination play between Kennedy and Freis, Hajnal was found alone in front of Tom Starke and he made no mistake with a fine finish.
source: goal.com
