Bundesliga: FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund win in lockstep

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Serge Gnabry in action against VfL Bochum

Photo: IMAGO/Eduard Martin / IMAGO/Jan Huebner

Bayern Munich defended its lead in the Bundesliga on matchday 20.

Bayern defeated VfL Bochum 3-0 at home.

However, Borussia Dortmund is still keeping up, BVB also won at Werder Bremen and has not lost a point this year.

Hoffenheim's fall continued even after the change of coach to Pellegrino Matarazzo, Leverkusen won there comfortably.

VfB Stuttgart also remains in the basement after an unfortunate defeat in Freiburg.

Mainz presented themselves against FC Augsburg in a carnival mood.

FC Bayern did not shine three days before the Champions League duel with Paris Saint-Germain, but it was enough to win over VfL Bochum without any problems.

The leader of the table won 3-0 and remains first on this matchday.

Thomas Müller, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry scored the goals.

Bayern struggled for a long time, then Müller scored the opening goal shortly before the break.

However, he needed the gracious help of the VfL defense.

Defender Saidy Janko played a back pass to his goalkeeper Manuel Riemann far too short, Müller was able to reach the ball, tipped it past Riemann and put it into the empty goal.

The hosts, who started again with Gnabry but without the suspended Joshua Kimmich, were already dominant.

But they always failed because of cover or because of Riemann.

VfL was only courageous in the initial phase and had the first shots on goal, but they were not dangerous.

It took a quarter of an hour after the break, then the preliminary decision was made.

Substitute Coman completed a successful Munich combination for the second goal.

Serge Gnabry made everything clear with a converted penalty after 73 minutes with the 3-0.

The joker stung: Jamie Bynoe-Gittens had only been in the game for a minute when he gave Borussia Dortmund the lead at Werder Bremen.

With his goal, he paved the way for BVB to their fifth win in five games in 2023. Julian Brandt made it 2-0 in the closing stages.

Dortmund started with Marco Reus and Youssoufa Moukoko, but Sébastien Haller was initially given a break.

But the Frenchman was not allowed to enjoy it for long, Moukoko had to leave the game early after a foul by Bremen's Leonardo Bittencourt and was replaced by Haller.

It was a varied first half with chances for both teams, but the big chance wasn't there, the 0-0 at the break was okay.

After the change, BVB increasingly took control of the game, and Bynoe-Gittens' lead after 66 minutes was well deserved.

After that Bremen couldn't fight back, Brandt decided the game with his goal in the 85th minute.

With the win, BVB climbs to second place for the time being, still three points behind Bayern.

Played quite well but weren't smart enough to pick up points: That's how the season at VfB Stuttgart can be summed up, and that's how it went at the Südwest-Derby in Freiburg.

A single action by Chris Führich, who smashed a hard shot into the corner of the goal from around 20 meters out, gave Bruno Labbadia's team the lead (30').

The supposed equalizer by Ritsu Doan didn't count because of an offside position when the goal was created (50th).

But then Dan-Axel Zagadou gave the Freiburgers two more great chances: First, the Frenchman fouled Michael Gregoritsch in the penalty area, and Vincenzo Grifo converted the penalty kick (60').

Then Doan went down in the penalty area after a duel with Zagadou – another penalty, Grifo kept his nerve and turned the game around for SCF (84').

Stuttgart remains in the relegation place 16. Freiburg gets three important points in the fight for the European places and initially jumps to fourth place, but can still be passed up to sixth place.

Pellegrino Matarazzo's debut as coach of TSG Hoffenheim has failed miserably.

The successor to the sacked André Breitenreiter had to watch his team being taken by surprise at the start of both halves of the game: Six minutes after kick-off, Robert Andrich placed the ball from 18 meters down the right side of the TSG goal, and shortly after the start of the second half Moussa Diaby raised it (46th).

Adam Hložek made everything clear after a counterattack (57'), Stanley Nsoki only managed to connect (77').

Hoffenheim has not won in eleven competitive games and is deep in the relegation battle.

After the last two defeats, Leverkusen wins a game again and can still hope to intervene in the fight for a place in the European Cup.

In the colorful carnival jersey, Mainz had reason to celebrate: In a varied exchange of blows with FC Augsburg, they managed to win at home.

Lee Jae-sung scored with the first real chance to take the lead (21'), the South Korean only had to agree with teammate Ludovic Ajorque in the center as to who was allowed to push the ball over the line.

Just three minutes later, Karim Onisiwo, who had been in form recently, scored the 2-0 from close range.

A hand penalty brought Augsburg back: Ermedin Demirović headed Leandro Barreiro in the arm and Demirović scored the penalty himself (28').

Lee scored another goal for Mainz after winning the ball himself (52'), and because Fredrik Jensen's offside goal (74') didn't count, Mainz's victory was no longer in danger.

Due to the success, Mainz in eleventh place is now five points ahead of Augsburg in 13th place in the table.

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