Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund both suffered a Bundesliga defeat on Saturday. The already crowned national champion lost 3-1 to 1. FSV Mainz 05, while the number two lost 3-4 against VfL Bochum despite a hat trick by Erling Braut Haaland. Since 1998 Bochum had not won a visit to BVB† Bochum, which also defeated Bayern this season, is assured of their survival.
Borussia Dortmund – VfL Bochum 3-4
Dortmund had to come from far, because after eight minutes Bochum was leading 0-2. Sebastian Polter opened the score with a header from a cross by Takuma Asano; the goalscorer was not hindered, as defender Manuel Akanji slipped trying to intercept the ball. Gerrit Holtmann took care of the 0-2 in a beautiful way. The attacker fired a contrarian shot into the top right corner from outside the penalty area after a pass from Asano was skillfully ignored by Milos Pantovic.
However, two handballs from Bochum gave Dortmund two penalty kicks in a short time. Referee Robert Hartmann saw that Pantovic got the ball against his outstretched arm after a cross by Marius Wolf and later also penalized a handball by Elvis Rexhbecaj in a duel with Wolf. From eleven meters, Haaland chose successively for a low shot into the right and left corner. An excellent goalkeeper Manuel Riemann kept Bochum going for a long time, but Haaland completed his hat trick after an hour when he luckily got the ball against a cross from Marco Reus.
In the first half of the game, the death of Mino Raiola was confirmed, although it is questionable whether Haaland received that news during the break: in his celebration he did not reflect on the death of his agent. Jürgen Locadia was brought within the lines of the searching Bochum and made the brilliant equalizer. The substitute received a cross from Pantovic, took the ball on the tip of the shoe, immediately turned away from Akanji and found the right corner: 3-3. Bochum even took three points with him: a handball from Axel Witsel resulted in a (straight) penalty from Pantovic.
1. FSV Mainz 05 – Bayern Munich 3-1
Brand new champion Bayern Munich quickly fell behind in the MEWA Arena. Sven Ulreich lost the ball with a bad kick. Jonathan Burkhardt took advantage of the situation and was able to finish coolly. Ten minutes later, Mainz doubled the lead. Anton Stach headed a free kick to Moussa Niakhaté, who was able to head in the 2-0 completely free-standing. Bayern quickly came up with an answer in the form of a connecting goal from Robert Lewandowski, who shot the ball out of reach of Robin Zentner into the right corner on a pass from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
After tea, Mainz brought the difference back to two. A long shot from Leandro Barreiro came through the back of Benjamin Pavard and the crossbar behind Ulreich. The home side remained stronger and almost scored a fourth goal twenty minutes before the end, but Karim Onisiwo hit the bar with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. More goals were not scored in Mainz, as a result of which the home team beat champions Bayern.
VFB Stuttgart – VfL Wolfsburg 1-1
Stuttgart needed a win to get closer to Hertha BSC, which is in safe fifteenth place. However, it was Wolfsburg that quickly took the lead. John Brooks was stronger in the air than Waldemar Anton and headed in from a corner from Maximilian Arnold. Stuttgart seemed powerless to do anything about the deficit for the rest of the game, but still tied the score a minute before the whistle. A pass from Enzo Millot flew over substitute Micky van de Ven to Chris Führich, who cleared the ball into the roof of the goal. Because Bielefeld also produced a late equalizer, Stuttgart is two points above seventeenth place, which means direct relegation. The difference with the safe Hertha is four points.
Arminia Bielefeld – Hertha Berlin 1-1
Bielefeld had to beat direct competitor Hertha BSC to have a chance of direct enforcement. However, the visitors started better in the Bielefelder Alm. Davie Selke seemed to be leading Hertha after more than twenty minutes, but Stefan Ortega had a great save with his leg in the house. In the second half, the team from Berlin still opened the score. Lucas Tousart headed in a corner from Marvin Plattenhardt at the near post. Bielefeld struggled to produce the equalizer, which succeeded in stoppage time. Joakim Nilsson was attentive after a failed corner was reintroduced and headed his side to a hard-fought run.