Dortmund stumble
March 20, 2011
Borussia Dortmund remain way ahead of the rest of Germany's football league, the Bundesliga, but their lead is somewhat shrinking after being held to a 1-1 by Mainz.
Dortmund went ahead thanks to an early goal by Mats Hummels, but Mainz came back with a last-minute equalizer by Petar Sliskovic.
Dortmund, however, remain a comfortable 10 points clear of of second placed Leverkusen who play on Sunday.
Bayern aim for Champions League
Bayern Munich have kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive. Beating Freiburg 2-1 on Saturday, the Bavarians are now fourth in Germany's domestic soccer league, just two points off Hanover in third.
Munich's Mario Gomez opened scoring with a header in the ninth minute. Yet Papiss Demba Cisse equalized for Freiburg shortly after and Franck Ribery sealed victory for Munich with a late goal only two minutes from the final whistle.
"My players fought to the end," Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said. "It's good to see that they really wanted to win." Van Gaal has had a tough season with reigning champions Bayern crashing out of the Champions league and the German Cup, while also having no chance to still win this season's Bundesliga title.
Hanover, however, also stayed strong, defeating Hoffenheim with a clear 2-0 victory.
"I still think it is too much to be speaking of the Champions League," Hanover coach Mirko Slomka said after the game. "We want to stay in the top five."
Hamburg comeback
Hamburg trounced Cologne 6-2 on Saturday, bouncing back from their bitter 6-0 defeat to Bayern last weekend. In response to the Bayern game, Hamburg had fired their coach Armin Veh.
Frankfurt's Theofanis Gekas was the man of the match against St. Pauli, scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory. It is Frankfurt's first win in 10 games.
Nuremberg went down 3-1 to Werder Bremen, whose Sandro Wagner put two penalties into the net. Nuremberg's Timothy Chandler was sent of with a red card.
In Sunday's soccer, second-placed Bayer Leverkusen will play Schalke, while Wolfsburg take on Stuttgart.
Author: Andreas Illmer (dpa, AFP)
Editor: Richard Connor