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During the first part of the season, the "Mainz" and "Hamburger" clubs, who have been at the bottom of the league table, seem determined not to share points anymore and continue to demonstrate impressive results. On Saturday, both teams secured victories and settled in the middle of the table - "Mainz" now holds the tenth place, while "Hamburger" is in thirteenth place.
This time, "Mainz" defeated the "Nurnberg" team 2-1 at home after the winter break. The hosts had a very successful start to the match, scoring two goals in the first half-hour. In the 20th minute, the "Nurnberg" goalkeeper failed to block Ellkino Soto's shot, and taking advantage of it, M. Zidane scored from close range to put "Mainz" in the lead. The Egyptian striker scored his second goal seven minutes later.
After the break, I. Saenko's shot from about six meters, receiving a precise pass from Roberto Vittek, softened the score to 2-1. Despite their efforts, the "Nurnberg" team failed to equalize the match in the remaining time.
In the second half of the season, "Mainz" club, having lost just two points in six matches, increased the gap from the relegation zone to four points. Meanwhile, the "Hamburger" club celebrated their third consecutive victory and managed to climb out of the bottom three after this match.
It seems that Coach Huub Stevens has managed to revive the club that shone in the previous season - on Saturday, the city's footballers gifted their supporters another victory, defeating the struggling "Eintracht" team 3-1.
Defending champions "Bayern" club secured their second victory under the new coach. The Munich players defeated the "Wolfsburg" club 2-1 at the "Allianz" Arena. After a foul by Alexander Madlung in the penalty area, a penalty kick was awarded to the visitors, which was successfully converted by L. Podolski.
After the break, M. van Bommel doubled the score from 20 meters with a shot. Towards the end of the match, "Wolfsburg" managed to reduce the gap but left without earning any points. Interestingly, the "Wolfsburg" team has never won in Munich throughout the history of the Bundesliga.
Following their twelfth victory of the season, "Bayern" is trailing the leading "Schalke" footballers by nine points, but the Gelsenkirchen team still has a match to play on Sunday.
All results
Match 1: 2-1 26' [1 - 0] Lukas Podolski (penalty) 56' [2 - 0] Mark van Bommel 79' [2 - 1] Cedric Makiadi
Match 2: 2-1 20' [1 - 0] Mohamed Zidan 27' [2 - 0] Mohamed Zidan 64' [2 - 1] Ivan Saenko
Match 3: 2-2 25' [1 - 0] Theofanis Geka 34' [1 - 1] Vedad Ibisevic 52' [2 - 1] Joel Epalle 57' [2 - 2] Matthias Lehmann
Match 4: 4-2 56' [1 - 0] Szabolcs Huszti (penalty) 69' [2 - 0] Jiri Stajner 76' [3 - 0] Arnold Bruggink 78' [4 - 0] Arnold Bruggink 87' [4 - 1] Ebi Smolarek 90' [4 - 2] Florian Kringe
Match 5: 2-1 15' [0 - 1] Petr Gabriel 62' [1 - 1] Mariusz Kukielka 66' [2 - 1] Sergiu Radu
Match 6: 3-1 7' [1 - 0] Rafael van der Vaart 59' [1 - 1] Naohiro Takahara 77' [2 - 1] Piotr Trochowski 90' [3 - 1] Ivica Olic
League Table [table=1][/table]
