Bundesliga Saturday Round-up: Hoffe And Mainz Earn Big Wins, Bayern Move Fifth

Bayern Munich 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Borussia M'gladbach 0-0 Koeln
Hannover 1-0 Stuttgart
Mainz 3-0 Freiburg
Hoffenheim 3-0 Nuernberg


The script was all too familiar for the Bayern faithful: Bayern held the vast majority of possession, but failed to convert in front of goal. In Frankfurt's first attacking move, Alexander Meier scored the go-ahead goal and Bayern were faced with a mountain to climb over the last half hour.

This time, things were different. With 20 minutes to go, Arjen Robben equalised, and then Daniel van Buyten headed in at the death to hand Bayern a hard-earned victory.


M'gladbach reluctantly shared the spoils with Koeln today and will be disappointed not to have won. After a terribly dull first half, the home side stormed out and laid siege to Faryd Mondragon's goal. The Colombian goalkeeper was not beaten, however, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.


Stuttgart's woes continued this week as, yet again, the Swabians controlled possession but fell a goal behind. In Hannover's only good chance of the first half, Didier Ya Konan scored from close range to give Hannover the lead. The Ivorian's strike would prove to be the only goal of the match, as Hannover survived a hailstorm of Stuttgart shots en route to a narrow victory.


Andreas Ivanschitz scored his fifth goal of the campaign to put Mainz ahead in the 24th minute, and Mainz never looked back. Attacking midfielder Tim Hoogland, better known for his defensive exploits, scored a second half brace to secure victory.


Hoffenheim came out a bit sluggish, but achieved form within a half hour. In the 34th minute, Christian Eichner scored a beauty from outside the box, before Vedad Ibisevic beat goalkeeper Raphael Schaefer on the break.

In the second half, substitute Franco Zuculini made it 3-0 with another effort from outside the penalty area, which sealed victory for the home side.


Clark Whitney, Goal.com