Bundesliga – Sane sends Bayern clear

By Sammy Wejinya

Bayern Munich have extended their lead at the top of the German Bundesliga standings to eight points following their 1-0 win at 10th placed Eintracht Frankfurt.

Leroy Sane’s goal on 71 minutes was enough to ensure the Bavarians have now recorded successive Bundesliga wins.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side have now amassed 58 points on the log, however, their extended lead was courtesy of second-placed Borussia Dortmund’s failure to amass maximum points against 15th placed FC Augsburg on Sunday.

Thorgan Hazard’s 35th minute opener for Dortmund was cancelled out by Noah Joel Sarenren Bazee’s goal on 78 minutes.

Following the share of the spoils, Marco Rose’s team have now totalled 50 points this term while Augsburg moved up a place to 15th with 23 points – although, they are being separated from the relegation zone thanks to goals difference.

Third-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen defeated 14th placed Arminia Bielefeld by three unreplied goals at BayArena.

Lucas Alario’s opener and Moussa Diaby’s brace took Leverkusen’s point tally to 44 this season while Bielefeld have recorded 25 points this season.

Christopher Nkunku’s winner eight minutes from time helped fourth-placed RasenBallsport Leipzig to their seventh win in a row against 11th placed VfL Bochum.

No thanks to the loss, Bochum still have 29 points on the board while Leipzig have hit the 40-point mark.

Joining Leipzig in reaching 40 points this season is fifth-placed SC Freiburg and sixth-placed 1899 Hoffenheim.

Freiburg moved up to fifth on goals difference thanks to their 3-0 win against Hertha BSC after Vincenzo Grifo’s penalty and late goals from Kevin Schade and Lucas Höler.

Following the loss, Hertha have now dropped to 16th as they occupy the relegation/promotion playoff spot with 23 points.

Hoffenheim dropped to sixth – no thanks to goals difference – despite snapping their four-game winless run against 17th placed VfB Stuttgart after coming from a goal down to record a brilliant 2-1 win on Friday.

Hoffenheim went behind following Wataru Endo’s goal on 58 minutes but Christoph Baumgartner became the hero and hugged the headlines.

The Austrian midfielder netted the equaliser on 85 minutes and eventually scored the winning goal in the 90th minute as Stuttgart remain second from bottom with 19 points.

Union Berlin rose to seventh following their 3-1 win over 10-man FSV Mainz 05.

Genki Haraguchi broke the deadlock on seven minutes and Sheraldo Becker doubled Union’s advantage in the 56th minute.

Dominik Kohr was given his marching orders at the hourmark following a second bookable offence within the space of two minutes and Taiwo Awoniyi sealed the win with Union’s third in the 75th minute. Although, Delano Burgzorg grabbed a consolation on the stroke of the 90′ for Mainz 05 – who havenow dropped to ninth with 34 points, three behind Union who have 37.

Eighth-placed FC Köln were held to a one-all draw at bottom placed Greuther Fürth after Florian Kainz’s 52nd minute goal was cancelled out by Sebastian Griesbeck’s 69th minute goal.

13th placed Borussia Möchengladbach battled from two goals down to force 12th placed VfL Wolfsburg to a 2-2 draw at Borussia Park.

Jonas Wind and Sebastiaan Bornauw both netted on seven and 33 minutes respectively to give Wolfsburg a healthy lead but Marcus Thuram pulled on back for Möchengladbach three minutes before the break.

Before Breel Embolo netted the all-important equaliser eight minutes from time, Maxence Lacroix received a red card on 70 minutes as Wolfsburg were reduced to 10 men. Mathias Ginter thought he stole three points for Möchengladbach at the death as he had the ball in the back of the net in the second minute of injury time, but his goal was chalked off after a VAR check.

Hence, Wolfsburg still lead Möchengladbach by a point and a place on the log as their 28 points is slightly better than Möchengladbach’s 27.

Bundesliga Preview, Matchday 24

Matchday 24 Fixtures

Friday, February 25, 2022
1899 Hoffenheim 2-1 VfB Stuttgart

Saturday, February 26, 2022
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 Arminia Bielefeld
Borussia Möchengladbach 2-2 VfL Wolfsburg
SC Freiburg 3-0 Hertha BSC
Union Berlin 3-1 FSV Mainz 05
Greuther Fürth 1-1 FC Köln
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-1 Bayern Munich

Sunday, February 27, 2022
VfL Bochum 0-1 RasenBallsport Leipzig
FC Augsburg 1-1 Borussia Dortmund