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Duel at Wolfsburg against Dortmund
Photo:
Swen gatekeeper / dpa
In the battle for qualification for the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 (1-0) at VfL Wolfsburg and suddenly they can hope again.
In the relegation battle Werder Bremen suffered the next setback at 1: 3 (0: 0) at Union Berlin.
Meanwhile, Freiburg and Hoffenheim were content with a 1: 1 (0: 1) in the secured midfield.
For Borussia Dortmund, the game in Wolfsburg was a final for the Champions League ranks. With a gap of five points before, you needed a win in order to not only play against the end of the season with theoretical chances for the premier class. In a largely uneventful game, the fact that it does not turn out this way was due to the fact that Erling Haaland escaped the Wolfsburg team twice. And at least the first hit from a catastrophic bad pass from Ridle Baku.
Baku actually wanted to pass back to central defender John-Anthony Brooks from midfield, but sent Haaland towards Wolfsburg keeper Koen Casteels. To the extended misfortune of Wolfsburg, Brooks falsified Haaland's shot attempt from close range into the goal (12th). In the second goal, Wolfsburg lost the ball in the opposing half to Mahmoud Dahoud, who only passed the ball to Haaland. The Norwegian was simply unstoppable from Wolfsburg's remaining defense, he pushed in for the preliminary decision in front of Casteels (68th).
Haaland's physical superiority whitewashed a minority of the Dortmunders, Jude Bellingham had seen yellow-red in the 59th minute. But Wolfsburg was hardly dangerous even on its own offensive. The Wolfsburgers are threatened with a nerve-wracking season finale, three game days before the end of the season they are only two points ahead of the unfortunate fifth place.
Werder Bremen stumbled into the relegation zone. At Union Berlin Werder lost the seventh Bundesliga game in a row. Because Cologne won in Augsburg on Friday, only one point separates Bremen from relegation rank. But the first relegation place seems threateningly close, Hertha is now only four points behind in three games less. In Berlin, it was up to Joel Pohjanpalo that it came to this. The Finn played his way into the foreground in the second half after the playmaker and ex-Bremen player Max Kruse was replaced at half time with muscular problems.
Pohjanpalo straddled an extended corner at the second post completely alone in the goal (50th), then he hit after a header extension from Peter Musa, who came for Kruse (53rd). The changes made to Werder's situation after the double strike: Philipp Bargfrede celebrated his comeback for the professional team after he had actually been sorted out at the start of the season, not renewed and then accepted into the club's reserve. But even he did not know how to prevent defeat. Rather, Pohjanpalo scored a hat trick (68th). Bremen's Theodor Gebre Selassie still scored the consolation goal (82nd).
Freiburg and Hoffenheim have already played each other out of the relegation battle in previous games, but neither team will make it to Europe.
In the direct duel, Hoffenheim confirmed its good performance from the win against Borussia Mönchengladbach, especially in the first round, but it was not enough to win.
Hoffenheim had better chances, for example with a crossbar hit by Robert Skov, who shot so powerfully, or with a shot from an acute angle by Andrej Kramaric, which goalkeeper Florian Müller steered over the goal.
Kramaric himself did better a little later: after strong preparatory work by Ihlas Bebou, Kramaric headed into the goal at the second post (40th).
In one of the few offensive scenes of the Freiburg team, Ermedin Demirović fell in the penalty area duel with Kevin Voigt, Vincenzo Grifo converted the penalty (81st).
hba
