A superb piece of finishing by French star Franck Ribery led to Bayern Munich’s 3-1 win over 10-man Arminia Bielefeld to put the German giants third, while Hoffenheim regained top spot on Saturday.
Goals by Miroslav Klose and Ribery, plus a late penalty from Lukas Podolski, gave Bayern their fourth straight league win in the Bundesliga.
The victory puts the defending champions third on 21 points, but Hoffenheim reclaimed the top place they lost for 24 hours with a 4-1 win over Karlsruhe to lead the table with 25 points.
“I am contented that we took three points and have improved our place in the table,” Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “We had to have patience against a very organized Bielefeld side and we had to work hard.”
Having endured criticism from Bayern manager Uli Hoeness after two poor games, Podolski’s improved performance was especially pleasing for Klinsmann.
“Lukas Podolski showed exactly the reaction which I have expected from him,” he said.
Bayern took the lead at Munich’s Allianz Arena when Ribery whipped in a free-kick which was saved, but when the ball fell to Klose he slipped his marker and slotted home his shot on 25 minutes.
But Bielefeld were level just five minutes later when Bayern defender Martin Demichelis, who scored an own goal against Frankfurt on Wednesday, gave away a penalty and Poland striker Artur Wichniarek rifled home the spot kick.
Munich had Bielefeld under immense pressure in the second-half as they created 11 shots in just over 20 minutes early on, including a header from defender Lucio which hammered the crossbar.
Having squandered a bucket load of chances, Bayern finally got the deserved break through on 77 minutes when Podolski fed a pass into Ribery who slid his shot home.
And Podolski smashed home a penalty on 84 minutes as the home side dominated.
Bielefeld lost midfielder Robert Tesche on 82 minutes when he hacked down Ribery through sheer frustration and was shown a straight red card.
Having lost top place in the league for less than 24 hours to Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim went back to the summit with a win over Karlsruhe.
After a slow start, Hoffenheim striker Vedad Ibisevic netted twice, while Chinedu Obasi also scored two goals.
“I do not think that we started that well and we only really made amends after a quarter of an hour,” Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick said. “The reaction of the team when we went 1-1 was very good, we are of course very happy to get a big win.”
Werder Bremen picked up their first league win since the end of September when they raced into a 3-0 half-time lead against Hertha Berlin and eventually won 5-1.
Title-contenders Hamburg suffered a shock when they went down 3-0 at Hanover, having been 2-0 down after just 18 minutes, and VfB Stuttgart were also humbled 3-1 at home to strugglers Cologne.
But Schalke 04 managed a late 2-0 win over second-from-bottom Energie Cottbus thanks to a second-half goal from Heiko Westermann on 80 minutes and a penalty from Jefferson Farfan on 90 minutes.
Bayer Leverkusen briefly led the top of the table following Friday night’s convincing 2-0 win at home to Wolfsburg.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946