"Schalke" and "Bayern" ended the year triumphantly

2006-12-16 20:14 © EuroFootball.com

On Friday and Saturday, seven matches of the last round of this year's Bundesliga were played. The championship leaders had different fates - "Bayern" thrashed absolute underdogs "Mainz" 4-0 away, "Schalke" narrowly defeated "Arminia" away, and "Stuttgart" failed to beat league newcomers "Cottbus". So almost halfway through the competition for the title, there is a very interesting and fierce battle involving four clubs.

The 17th round started with a match in Bochum, where local "Bochum" faced "Gladbach". Bochum's team, returning to the top league, did not miss the opportunity to earn points against "Gladbach", who were tragically playing away and celebrated a 2-0 victory.

In the first half, the hosts were led forward by a beautiful shot from 20 meters high trajectory by Greek T.Gekas, while at the end of the match, Kahe "missed" his team by sending the ball into his own goal. The victory allowed "Bochum" to climb out of the relegation zone, while "Gladbach" found themselves among the three lowest-ranked teams in the league.

On Saturday, the defending champions "Bavarians" won the most convincing victory, crushing "Mainz" players. The Munich team scored all four goals within 35 minutes - scoring the first goal after about half an hour with a header, thanks to B.Schweinsteiger's pass, H.Salihamidzic scored, and at the end of extra time R.Makaay doubled the result with a penalty kick, skilfully bypassing the defender and scoring his ninth goal of the season.

After the break, "Bayern" players quickly defeated the hosts' goalkeeper twice more and ended the year with a secure victory: in the 64th minute, C.Pizarro scored the third goal for the team, and just two minutes later, B.Schweinsteiger scored with a precise shot from the edge of the penalty area. After the victory, the league champions tied in points with "Werder", but the Bremen club will play their round match on Sunday.

In the case of a victory over "Wolfsburg", "Werder" once again succeeded on Saturday in at least temporarily climbing to the first place the "Schalke" club, which narrowly defeated "Arminia" away. Z.Bajramovic took care of all the business for the visitors, appearing on the field as a substitute and scoring the winning goal two minutes after the substitution, accurately redirecting Halil Altintop's cross from a sharp angle into the net.

Trying not to fall behind the top four, the capital's "Hertha" also emerged victorious in this round, beating "Eintracht" 1-0. The victory for the Berlin team was brought by the lone goal by C.Gimenez in the 63rd minute. Almost at the end of the first round of the championship, "Hertha" lagged nine points behind the leading "Schalke" club.

Once again, this year, "Hamburg" failed to secure a victory against the underdogs, having fallen to "Aachen". The city's footballers were leading 3-1 with about fifteen minutes left to play, but they failed to maintain the lead, and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

In the 78th minute, C.Fiel revived "Aachen's" hopes, and at the end of the match, B.Reinhardt of Aacheno club gifted "Hamburg" an own goal with a header towards his net, making it the tenth draw for "Hamburg," keeping them in second-to-last place. "Aachen" remained thirteenth.

The "Nurnberg" club managed to break the streak of draws and win at home against "Hannover" by a score of 3-1 after conceding an early goal. This was the fourth victory of the season for "Nurnberg," the club with the fewest losses, as it secured the seventh position in the table.

Friday and Saturday results

2 - 0

45' [1 - 0] Theofanis Gekas

85' [2 - 0] Kahe (own goal)

3 - 1

5' [0 - 1] Thomas Brdaric

32' [1 - 1] Ivica Banovic

56' [2 - 1] Markus Schroth

90' [3 - 1] Jawhar Mnari (pen.)

90' Steven Cherundolo ("Hannover") sent off

3 - 3

33' [0 - 1] Besart Berisha