Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 5:29 PM• Jonathan van Haaster

The battle for third and fourth place in the Bundesliga is still extremely exciting. Union Berlin played a goalless draw against Bayer Leverkusen at home, as a result of which the latter team seems to have forgotten a place in the top four. Because RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg managed to win against TSG Hoffenheim (1-0) and 1. FC Köln (0-1) respectively, the gap between Union, Freiburg and Leipzig is only two points. Union and Freiburg have 56 points, while number five Leipzig with 54 points still has a chance of a place in the Champions League. Leverkusen follows in sixth place with 48 points.

Union Berlin – Bayer Leverkusen 0-0
Union was the parent in the opening phase of the first half. It led to an opportunity for Sheraldo Becker, who saw his shot deflected by the defense. Jordan Siebatcheu and Aïssa Laïdouni also threatened, but in the end they just missed out on (dangerous) shots. Jeremie Frimpong handed out some pinpricks on behalf of Leverkusen. The right wing defender was stopped just in time after a nice dribble and delivered some dangerous crosses in Union’s sixteen. Edmond Tapsoba had the opportunity to open the score just before half-time. The Leverkusen defender was able to head in uncovered, but saw his attempt fly wide.

The first danger of the second half came in the name of Becker. The Amsterdammer received the ball after good perseverance from Jérôme Roussillon and saw his curled shot fly a meter over the intersection. Minutes later, Bakker was of great importance by clearing a low cross from the goal mouth. Leverkusen managed to do little offensively in the second half. Nevertheless, the visitors came close to taking the lead five minutes before the end. A cross from Frimpong was appreciated by Bakker, who saw his header end up in the arms of Fredrik Rønnow. In the absolute final phase no more danger was created.

RB Leipzig – TSG Hoffenheim 1-0
For Leipzig it was clear in advance that it had to win to keep the connection with Freiburg and Union. The team of trainer Marco Rose was therefore the parent from the start and that led to several opportunities. For example, Konrad Laimer ran into Oliver Baumann and Timo Werner did too little with his chance by shooting high over. After half an hour it was still hit those Roten Bulls. A Hoffenheim defender handed in the ball just like that, after which Emil Forsberg had a nice pass to Christopher Nkunku. The Frenchman opened the score with a subtle tap: 1-0. Fifteen minutes before the end, André Silva was close to 2-0, but the Portuguese hit the crossbar. However, the lead would not be relinquished.

1. FC Cologne – SC Freiburg 0-1
Freiburg had to watch how Köln finished a great first half. For example, the home team had a shooting opportunity via Dejan Ljubicic, who saw his attempt stopped by Mark Flek. Minutes later, the the Dutch international also successfully responded to a shot by Davie Selke. Marvin Schwabe, Köln’s goalkeeper, also distinguished himself several times. For example, Lucas Höler and Maximilian Eggestein had to acknowledge their superiority in the goalie. Ten minutes after the break, however, Schwabe had no answer. Höler planted the ball on the head of Ritsu Doan, who scored the opening goal with a header: 0-1. In the remainder of the game, Steffen Tigges, among others, came close to the equalizer, which would not fall in the end.

Other results
Eintracht Frankfurt – FC Augsburg 1-1
VfB Stuttgart – Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1