Round 4: "Stuttgart" crisis continues © EuroFootball.com

On Saturday, the fourth round of the German football championship began and seven matches were played. After them, there were no changes at the top of the table - Bayern Munich club continues to lead, while Stuttgart continues their unsuccessful performance. Before the start of the season, Stuttgart, considered one of the favorites of the league, played a draw against Arminia this time. The match was more active at the start by Stuttgart and in the 5th minute J.Gronkjaer scored a goal, but the referee called an offside. A little later, both clubs created dangerous attacks, but neither team was able to score and the first half ended in a draw. After the break, Stuttgart's coach sent D.Ljuboja onto the field and after ten minutes this substitution paid off - after a great attack led by D.Ljuboja, Dane J.D.Tomasson sent the ball into Arminia's goal from five meters and put his club ahead. However, Stuttgart failed to keep the lead - in the 79th minute, Arminia goalkeeper M.Hainas gave a long and accurate pass to R.Pinto, who had slipped past the Stuttgart defenders "asleep", took advantage of it and past Stuttgart player R.Pinto defeated T.Hildebrand and helped Arminia to earn a valuable point. Defending champions Bayern Munich won 2-1 away against Nurnberg and secured their fourth consecutive victory. Munich players had to recover after J.Pinola put Nurnberg club ahead in the 20th minute. However, the hosts didn't celebrate for long and just a minute later, P.Guerrero equalized the score. In the second half, the guests scored again and it was enough for the Munich club to secure the victory. This round was also successful for the Hamburg club - one of the league leaders won 3-1 away against Mainz and secured their third victory this season. After about an hour of play, Hamburg led 2-0, but with about twenty minutes left to play, Mainz softened the score and brought back the intrigue. However, soon after, Hamburg player R.van der Vaart scored another goal and thus "buried" all the hopes of the hosts. Another interesting match took place in Leverkusen between local Bayer and Schalke teams. Already in the 7th minute, Schalke could have taken the lead, but Lincoln failed to score from eleven meters. After ten minutes, another penalty was awarded, this time to Schalke, but Bayer's forward D.Berbatov also failed to score. The first goal of the match came only at the end of the match - in the 73rd minute, D.Berbatov successfully broke through several Schalke defenders and sent the ball into the net with a confident shot. S.Larsen managed to equalize the score five minutes before the end of the match and saved his club from defeat. "Werder" team also achieved an impressive victory. The ambitious Bremen club won 5-1 away against Kaiserslautern. The winners' goals were scored by all internationals: Frenchman J.Micoud, Germans T.Frings, M.Klose, Croatian J.Vranjes. The consolation goal for the hosts was scored by the most productive Bundesliga player H.Altintop. In another match, two league underdogs "Gladbach" and "Duisburg" teams met. Already in the 5th minute, after O.Neuville's goal, the hosts took the lead, but Bundesliga newcomers "Duisburg" didn't falter and equalized the score after four minutes. Shortly after, Duisburg had the opportunity to turn the tide in their favor, but I.Grlic failed to convert the eleven-meter penalty. In the second half, "Gladbach" players were more active and in the 66th minute, their efforts paid off - "Gladbach" defender Ze Antonio sent the ball into the net and gave the first victory to his club this season. "Hannover" players finally achieved their first victory after three consecutive draws. The Hanover team won 2-0 at home against Bundesliga newcomers "Eintracht" and climbed to fifth place in the table. Saturday match statistics 1 - 1 73' [1 - 0] Dimitar Berbatov 85' [1 - 1] Soren Larsen 1 - 2 19' [1 - 0] Javier Horacio Pinola 21' [1 - 1] Jose Paolo Guerrero 60' [1 - 2] Michael Ballack 1 - 1 58' [1 - 0] Jon Dahl Tomasson 79' [1 - 1] Roberto Pinto 2 - 0 32' [1 - 0] Jiri Stajner 63' [2 - 0] Chavdar Yankov 1 - 5 31' [0 - 1] Johan Micoud 44' [0 - 2] Miroslav Klose 45' [0 - 3] Torsten Frings 78' [0 - 4] Miroslav Klose 84' [1 - 4] Altintop 89' [1 - 5] Jurica Vranjes 1 - 3 43' [0 - 1] Raphael Wicky 56' [0 - 2] Mehdi Mahdavikia 69' [1 - 2] Petr Ruman 71' [1 - 3] Rafael van der Vaart 2 - 1 5' [1 - 0] Oliver Neuville 9' [1 - 1] Uwe Möhrle 66' [2 - 1] Ze Antonio