Bundesliga wrap
November 6, 2010
In Germany's Bundesliga, Mainz 05 missed out on the opportunity to seize first place on the ladder after a surprise 0-1 away loss to Freiburg. Elsewhere, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Nuremberg all notched up wins, while Bayern drew with ‘Gladbach.
Freiburg's top scorer Papiss Demba Cisse nailed a 64th-minute penalty to inflict only Mainz's third defeat of the season after Niko Bungert fouled Freiburg's Oliver Barth to give away the penalty.
The result leaves Mainz in second place on 24 points, one point behind Dortmund who meet Hanover tomorrow, while the win helped Freiburg jump up to eighth place with 18 points.
Bayern torment
Elsewhere, Germany captain Philipp Lahm helped save blushes for last season's champions, Bayern Munich, as they fought back to draw 3-3 with Borussia Moenchengladbach at Borussia Park.
Despite maintaining 79 percent possession in the first half, Bayern were unable to extend a 2-1 lead at halftime that came through goals to in-form striker Mario Gomez and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The game got off to a torrid start for the visitors when ‘Gladbach midfielder Patrick Herrmann caught Munich's defense napping with a long-range goal from the wing after only five minutes.
Gomez equalized six minutes later, however, and Schweinsteiger gave Bayern the lead in the 40th with a simple tap in after a pass from Danijel Pranjic.
It took ‘Gladbach 11 minutes in the second half to find a second goal when midfielder Marco Reus sent Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt the wrong way.
The visitors sent their fans into raptures and took the lead when Belgium striker Igor de Camargo netted on the hour mark to make it 3-2.
Bayern hit back when the ball fell to Lahm on the right side of the penalty area and the right-back, who has committed to Munich until 2016, slammed his shot past ‘Gladbach keeper Christofer Heimeroth on 84 minutes.
The solitary point means Bayern drop down to ninth place with 16 points, while ‘Gladbach remain anchored at the foot of the table on seven points.
Around the grounds
In other games, Bundesliga top scorer Theofanis Gekas struck twice to take his tally to 11 and help third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt sink VfL Wolfsburg 3-1.
The Greek striker notched a goal in each half to keep Frankfurt's fine start to the season going and pile further pressure on Wolfsburg coach Steve McClaren, whose team remain in 12th place on 13 points.
Meanwhile, Hamburg SV came from a goal down to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 with Croat Mladen Petric grabbing an 83rd-minute winner that lifted his team to joint sixth place on 18 points.
Hoffenheim drop down to fourth place on 18 points.
In Nuremberg, the hosts outplayed Cologne to win 3-1 thanks to goals from Jens Hegeler, Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Schieber. The victory pushes the Bavarians up to joint sixth with 18 points, while Cologne drop to 16th on eight points from 11 games.
Author: Darren Mara (dpa, AFP)
Editor: Kyle James