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As the German football championship nears its end, the chances of anyone stopping Bayern Munich's march towards another title have once again diminished. Although the matches for both Bayern and Hamburger teams were tough, Munich players managed to secure a win, while Hamburg suffered their fifth consecutive defeat of the season, allowing Bayern to rebuild a solid nine-point lead.
In this round, the league's underdogs Duisburg made the Munich club nervous by taking the lead against the reigning champions towards the end of the first half. However, Bayern couldn't maintain the lead, as H. Salihamidzic equalized with a close-range strike after about an hour, R. Makaay put the visitors ahead five minutes later, and C. Pizarro sealed Bayern's victory in the 81st minute. It's worth noting that Bayern's team leader M. Ballack couldn't play in this match, while the club's captain and goalkeeper O. Kahn suffered an injury right at the beginning and was substituted in the 12th minute.
This important victory for the league leaders once again distanced them from the Hamburg team, who lost 2-4 at home to Borussia on Saturday. The first goal came at the end of the first half, with E. Smolarek putting Borussia ahead. Despite the hosts equalizing ten minutes later, B. Lauth's header leveled the score, extending his run of form in scoring games.
After about an hour on the field, Hamburg's newcomer Ailton scored his first goal, putting his team ahead. However, the home fans' joy was short-lived as Borussia equalized a minute later and took the lead in the 83rd minute with a beautiful shot from F. Kringe. Despite the home team's efforts to salvage at least a point in the match, Borussia took advantage of the weakened defense and scored another goal in the final moments.
This defeat significantly complicated Hamburg's chances of fighting for the title. Furthermore, Werder Bremen players have dangerously closed the gap, securing a 5-0 victory against Hannover in this round. N. Valdez of Bremen scored three goals in this match, along with the league's top scorer M. Klose and the Frenchman J. Micoud. Following this win, Werder is only three points behind second place.
Meanwhile, there is still no clear favorite in the fight for a spot in next year's UEFA Cup competition, with only three points separating fifth and tenth place. Hertha moved up to fifth after drawing 2-2 with Mainz. Bayer Leverkusen also improved their chances a bit in this round by defeating Stuttgart 2-0 away and climbing from tenth to eighth position.
All results from the 27th round of matches:
0 – 2 30’ [0 – 1] Paul Freier 88’ [0 – 2] Dimitar Berbatov
1 – 3 40’ [1 – 0] Abdelaziz Ahanfouf 66’ [1 – 1] Hasan Salihamidzic 71’ [1 – 2] Roy Makaay 80’ [1 – 3] Claudio Pizarro
1 – 1 2’ [1 – 0] Christian Springer 16’ [1 – 1] Marko Rehmer
5 – 0 43’ [1 – 0] Nelson Valdez 45’ [2 – 0] Johan Micoud 52’ [3 – 0] Nelson Valdez 53’ [4 – 0] Miroslav Klose 81’ [5 – 0] Nelson Valdez 45’ Imre Szabics ("Koln") was sent off
2 – 4 25’ [0 – 1] Ebi Smolarek 35’ [1 – 1] Benjamin Lauth 67’ [2 – 1] Ailton 68’ [2 – 2] Tomas Rosicky 83’ [2 – 3] Florian Kringe 90’ [2 – 4] Tomas Rosicky
2 – 2 7’ [1 – 0] Kevin Kuranyi 29’ [1 – 1] Rick Hoogendorp 67’ [2 – 1] Lincoln 76’ [2 – 2] Christopher Lamprecht
2 – 2 41’ [0 – 1] Marko Pantelic 52’ [1 – 1] Michael Thurk 78’ [2 – 1] Conor Casey 89’ [2 – 2] Marko Pantelic
0 – 0
3 – 0 32’ [1 – 0] Halil Altintop 33’ [2 – 0] Halil Altintop 66’ [3 – 0] Ervin Skela
