Surprise package Borussia Moenchengladbach climbed to the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win at Cologne on Friday as they continued their spectacular run this season.
Two goals from Mike Hanke and one from Juan Arango secured a fourth straight league win that saw them move on to 29 points, one ahead of Bayern Munich, who travel to FSV Mainz 05 today.
“This was a deserved win,” Gladbach coach Lucien Favre told reporters after his team stormed into a 2-0 lead at the break, before adding a third just after the interval. “We could have gone into the second half with an even bigger lead.”
Photo: EPA
“We wanted to pressure them from the start and my players did it well. We could have won by four or five goals today,” said the Swiss, who took charge midway through last season to keep them in the Bundesliga.
Champions Borussia Dortmund, in third place on 26 points, can themselves claim top spot with a home win over bitter rivals Schalke 04, who are a point behind them in fourth.
’Gladbach, who last season needed a relegation playoff to stay up, sent in front when forward Hanke fired in a low drive from 14m in the 20th minute.
Venezuela international Arango doubled the lead on the half hour, curling a 23m free-kick over the wall past goalkeeper Michael Rensing as Gladbach found little resistance in the regional derby that saw crowd trouble before the start.
Hanke dashed any Cologne hopes of a second-half comeback by slotting the ball home in the 47th after Rensing had palmed away a Patrick Herrmann shot.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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