Two weeks ago, we wrote that the story in the Bundesliga always revolves around Bayern Munich. But Bayern's 1-0 victory in Karlsruhe on a late Miroslav Klose goal is only worth noting because it allowed the Bavarians to close the gap on leading group, and because it ended the reigning champion's three-game winless streak. "Overall, there is still room for improvement," said Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann, whose side is still 11th. The headline in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said it better: "Klose Shoots Klinsmann Out Of A Crisis."
In soccer terms, the drama again involved Werder Bremen. After a scoreless first half, it trailed at home to Borussia Dortmund by two goals to one with two minutes left, but then Claudio Pizarro stepped up with an equalizer and then for good measure added a nifty second that was celebrated by all the home fans and players as the winner. But they reckoned without the porous Werder backline, which allowed Dortmund to launch one last attack and Mohammed Zidan to steal an ultra-late leveler (final score: 3-3).
Werder's trainer Thomas Schaaf was not in the mood to discuss what an entertaining second half the two sides had served up. "I made myself very clear [to the players], and tomorrow I'd like to see a reaction," he said. Bremen's Sebastian Boenisch, who assisted on two goals, confirmed: "It got pretty loud in the locker room." Dortmund is eighth, and Bremen 10th, with a staggering goals for:against ratio of 22:19 after just eight games.
1899 Hoffenheim is second after an astonishing away performance at Hannover. Trailing 2-1 with 20 minutes to go, it made the comeback one to remember by banging in four goals and taking the game, 5-2. Hannover had conceded just two goals in its first three home games and had not lost at home for eight months. In what kicker magazine described as an "offensively furious" performance, Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic (the former Saint Louis University star) scored twice, taking his season's tally to nine.
Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick claimed he wasn't interested in talking about first place. "The league table doesn't have any meaning until you've played 10 rounds of games," he said. "It's brutally close up there. We have 11 points distance between ourselves and the relegation spots and no pressure on us whatsoever." His side has scored 21 goals in 8 games, one fewer than Bremen.
Hamburg leads the league after fighting out a disappointing 1-1 draw with sixth-placed Schalke in Sunday's game. Slipping quietly into third place is Bayer Leverkusen (20 goals so far), 2-0 winner at bottom-placed Frankfurt, still winless. Hertha Berlin was fortunate to edge Stuttgart 2-1 on a late winner from Serbian midfielder Gojko Kacar, and moved into fourth. Wolfsburg is fifth after hammering Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 -- Bosnian midfielder Zvejdan Misimovic netted a first-half brace.
HIGHLIGHT (VIDEO): The final six minutes of Bremen-Dortmund.
STANDINGS:
TEAM GP W T L F A P
Hamburg 8 5 2 1 15 12 17
Hoffenheim 8 5 1 2 21 14 16
Bayer Leverkusen 8 5 0 3 20 11 15
---------------------------------------
Hertha Berlin 8 4 2 2 10 9 14
VfL Wolfsburg 8 3 4 1 18 12 13
Schalke 04 8 3 4 1 12 8 13
VfB Stuttgart 8 4 1 3 13 10 13
Borussia Dortmund 8 3 4 1 16 14 13
Cologne 8 4 1 3 8 9 13
Werder Bremen 8 3 3 2 22 19 12
Bayern Munich 8 3 3 2 16 13 12
Karlsruhe 7 3 0 4 7 10 9
Hanover 96 8 2 2 4 9 16 8
VfL Bochum 8 1 4 3 12 13 7
Arminia Bielefeld 8 1 3 4 10 16 6
Energie Cottbus 8 1 2 5 3 11 5
Borussia Moen. 8 1 1 6 8 17 4
Eintracht Frankfurt 7 0 3 4 5 11 3
No comments yet.
