Bundesliga: 1. FC Köln defeated Frankfurt – two of three relegation candidates slip up

Anthony Modeste, who else? Half an hour on the pitch after a week’s illness was enough for the Frenchman to once again become the match winner of 1. FC Köln. Modeste scored his 15th goal of the season (84th) in the 1-0 (0-0) win against Eintracht Frankfurt and thus extended the Saturday evening curse of the Hessians. They have not won 15 times in a row on Saturday in a game that started at 6.30 p.m. – in eleven defeats. Incidentally, Eintracht celebrated their last success at this kick-off time in 2016 in a 1-0 win against FC.

While the people of Cologne, who were only saved in the relegation last season, will occupy a place in the European Cup eleven games before the end of the season after the deserved success, another European Cup qualification for the Hessians is becoming ever more distant. In six games in 2022, they took just four points and remain tenth.

VfL Wolfsburg – TSG Hoffenheim

1899 Hoffenheim has stormed into a Champions League spot in the Bundesliga. Within just four minutes, Sebastian Hoeneß’ team turned a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 (0-1) win at VfL Wolfsburg.

First, Denmark’s Jacob Bruun Larsen, who had just come on as a substitute, equalized in the 74th minute with a spectacular side kick. The Croatian Andrej Kramaric even scored the winning goal on his first mission after a positive corona test (78th). Only four minutes later, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann prevented the 2:2 (82nd) ​​after a header from Jonas Wind.

Wolfsburg’s Danish striker gave VfL the lead in the 36th minute with his first Bundesliga goal. A second goal from FC Copenhagen’s €12 million purchase did not count because it was ruled offside (88′). The recent upswing of his team ended after the two victories against Greuther Fürth (4:1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2:0) but also because the “wolves” only wanted to maintain their lead in the second half. Instead of possibly moving decisively out of the relegation zone and even moving up to four points in a Europa League place, Florian Kohfeldt and his team have to look down the table.

VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum

VfB Stuttgart stopped its series of defeats in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga, but missed the hoped-for sense of achievement. With the 1:1 (0:0) against Bayern conqueror VfL Bochum, coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s penultimate table secured a point, which was actually not enough for the hoped-for relegation. After the last four appearances without a point, Armel Bella Kotchap’s own goal (56th minute) wasn’t enough because Bochum equalized in added time with a penalty kick from Eduard Löwen (90’+5′).

When almost everything spoke for the first victory for the Swabians, who were threatened with relegation, since mid-December, VfB defender Konstantinos Mavropanos committed a serious foul in the penalty area in front of 20,059 spectators. A week after the 4-2 coup against the record champions from Munich, Bochum were unable to follow suit and were now the ninth Bundesliga club after beating FC Bayern in the following game without a win.

FC Augsburg – SC Freiburg

Without head coach Markus Weinzierl, the situation in the relegation battle of the Bundesliga has worsened for FC Augsburg due to the first home defeat against SC Freiburg. After their 2-1 (2-1) win on Saturday, the guests from Breisgau are heading towards a place in the European Cup. Attacker Nils Petersen (4th minute) and the powerful central defender Nico Schlotterbeck (26th) scored for Freiburg in front of 14,050 spectators. The Augsburgers, for whom Michael Gregoritsch scored the 1-1 (16th), remain in 16th place.

During the 90 minutes, assistant coach Jonas Scheuermann acted in the Augsburg coaching zone as a giver of instructions and a whip. Assistant coach Reiner Maurer followed the game mainly from the bench. The temporary bosses were not in constant radio contact with Weinzierl. “Anyone who sits a little higher has the plug in their ear,” Maurer explained to Weinzierl before the start of the game.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld – 1 FC Union Berlin

At Union Berlin, the negative trend continues after Max Kruse left. The third game without the offensive man who switched to Wolfsburg at the end of January was also lost 0-1 (0-0) at Arminia Bielefeld. With that, the team of football coach Urs Fischer is moving away more and more from the international pitches. In front of 10,000 spectators in the Schüco Arena, Masaya Okugawa (53rd) ensured the narrow victory for Arminia in a hard-fought game, which is well on the way to staying in the league after only one defeat in the last eight Bundesliga games. For the East Westphalians it was also the first Bundesliga victory over the Berliners on the fourth attempt.

FSV Mainz 05 vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Strong at home, FSV Mainz 05 also defied the attacking artists of Bayer Leverkusen. The Rheinhessen won on Friday evening at the start of the 23rd match day of the Bundesliga 3: 2 (0: 1) and initially climbed to seventh place. Bayer missed the chance to close the gap to second-placed Borussia Dortmund and lost again after four wins in a row. Patrik Schick (35th minute) with his 20th goal of the season and Lucas Alario (74th) scored for the guests, but Aarón Martín (57th) and substitutes Jean-Paul Boëtius (84th) and Marcus Ingvartsen (88th) provided for the Mainz victory.