Bundesliga Saturday Round-Up: Bremen & Hoffenheim Pummel Opponents, Nuernberg Shock Wolfsburg

Bremen and Hoffenheim earned emphatic victories, while Wolfsburg were upset by Nuernberg.

Nov 21, 2009 7:30:30 PM

DFB-Pokal: Bayer Leverkusen - Werder Bremen, Mesut Özil (firo)

Teams

Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Borussia M'gladbach
Koeln 0-4 Hoffenheim
Freiburg 0-6 Werder Bremen
Schalke 2-0 Hannover
Stuttgart 1-1 Hertha Berlin
Wolfsburg 2-3 Nuernberg
Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Mainz

Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Borussia M'gladbach

Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, who has had a great season thus far, was unlucky to concede an own goal early in the second half. The visitors made it 2-0 when Roel Brouwers converted from close range shortly thereafter. Frankfurt rallied late, but Alexander Meier was denied by the post, causing Permin Schwegler's penalty to be merely a consolation goal.

Koeln 0-4 Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim began the game by blitzing what has been one of the league's best defences, to great effect. Given space to shoot, Carlos Eduardo drilled in a long-distance shot, and Chinedu Obasi headed in another in the 11th minute to make it 2-0 early on.

Demba Ba added a third immediately after the break before substitute Vedad Ibisevic won and converted a penalty late on.

Freiburg 0-6 Werder Bremen

Werder struck the post twice before taking the lead after 33 minutes thanks to Hugo Almeida.

In the second half, Thomas Schaaf's side exhibited much better finishing, scoring five more goals. During this time, Marko Marin (55'), Almeida (57'), Mesut Oezil (67'), Naldo (penalty, 73'), and Markus Rosenberg (82') all got on the scoresheet.

Schalke 2-0 Hannover

For 70 minutes, Schalke were foiled by poor passing and magnificent goalkeeping from Florian Fromlowitz. Then, with 20 minutes to go, Jefferson Farfan headed in the opener, and Schalke never looked back. In his 30 or so seconds on the pitch, Jan Moravek tapped in a rebound to make it 2-0 in the final seconds.

Stuttgart 1-1 Hertha Berlin

After a scoreless first half that saw Stuttgart pepper the visitors' goal, Gustavo Ramos struck in the opening goal for Hertha. Stuttgart battled back and levelled matters in the 82nd minute thanks to Zdravko Kuzmanovic, who shortly thereafter was sent off for a second bookable offence. Down to ten men, Stuttgart were nullified offensively, and were forced to settle for a draw.

Wolfsburg 2-3 Nuernberg

Relegation fighters Nuernberg had arguably a better first half than their hosts, but went into the break with nothing to show for it. That would change shortly after half-time, as Albert Bunjaku put his team ahead on 56 minutes. In response, Wolfsburg's Ashkah Dejagah finished well after a nice set-up from Edin Dzeko before Bunjaku completed his brace on 64 minutes. Dejagah carried on with his excellent performance by earning a penalty late, which Grafite tucked in to again draw Wolfsburg level.

However, Nuernberg would get the last word. Deep in extra time, Daniel Gygax led the visitors' breakaway and found Peer Kluge, who beat Diego Benaglio to secure three well-earned points for Nuernberg.

Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Mainz

Dortmund earned got the better opportunities in a scoreless first half before completely shutting down Mainz after the break. Despite a flurry of shots in the final half hour, the home side failed to net, and Mainz held on for a narrow 0-0 draw.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com

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