Because FC Bayern Munich stumbles in Mainz, champions Bayer Leverkusen benefit. They made their presence felt in the title race with a confident victory in Augsburg. Borussia Mönchengladbach has no trouble with Holstein Kiel. This puts them close to the European ranks.
FC Augsburg – Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:2 (0:2)
Bayer Leverkusen continued its run in the Bundesliga and put FC Bayern under pressure once again in the year-end spurt. The double winner celebrated his seventh competitive win in a row with an easy 2-0 (2-0) away game at FC Augsburg and reduced the gap to the league leaders from Munich to four points after their mistake in Mainz.
Thanks to goals from Martin Terrier (14th) and Florian Wirtz (40th), coach Xabi Alonso’s team took over the role of Bayern’s first pursuer from Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday (7.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de), however, the Hessians can follow suit at RB Leipzig. FCA is currently still stuck in the bottom half of the table.
Four days after the successful final exam in the premier class against Inter Milan (1-0), Alonso made three changes to his starting eleven, but the Spaniard again had to do without a real striker. As was the case during the week, Patrik Schick initially sat on the bench due to his calf problems, and Terrier was added to the offensive team with Wirtz and Nathan Tella.
The Frenchman was back in the Bayer starting line-up for the first time after nine games in which he had only made a maximum of short appearances – and immediately justified his nomination. After a fine ball from Granit Xhaka, Jeremie Frimpong served Terrier in the middle, who immediately used his team’s first shot to take the lead.
Leverkusen then controlled the game with a lot of possession, but without any real danger. On the other side, Keven Schlotterbeck (24th) scored the supposed equalizer, but it was conceded due to an offside position. The campaign still had a positive effect for Augsburg; the FCA now appeared more alert and courageous.
Only: It didn’t help much. The hosts couldn’t manage more than a few harmless shots against the Werkself’s stable defense. And so it inevitably happened as it had to: highly efficient Leverkusen players, in the person of Wirtz, also took advantage of the game’s second good chance – and went into the break with a comfortable lead.
The second half offered the 29,310 spectators in the Augsburg Arena a barely changed picture. The FCA continued to try, but Leverkusen were simply too confident. The champions left almost no stone unturned defensively and didn’t do more than was absolutely necessary in attack.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – Holstein Kiel 4:1 (3:1)
A lightning goal from Tim Kleindienst, then mercilessly efficient: Borussia Mönchengladbach gave promoted Holstein Kiel another lesson. The Fohlenelf’s clear 4:1 (3:1) meant the fifth defeat in a row for the penultimate team from Kiel, who once again disappointed defensively and had to fear a direct return to the lower house.
Captain Kleindienst with his ninth goal of the season after just 37 seconds, Robin Hack (26th) and Alassane Plea (43rd/79th) scored for Borussia, who scored 16 out of 18 possible points from their last six home games. Kiel, on the other hand, is still waiting for the first away win in its Bundesliga history, and a dream goal from Armin Gigovic (30th) didn’t help either.
The first duel between the two clubs since the Bundesliga promotion round in 1965 started furiously: Kiel had the kick-off, but Gladbach scored straight away. Franck Honorat crossed smoothly into the middle, where Kleindienst headed in powerfully. The national player led the team as captain because goalkeeper Jonas Omlin was on the bench and Julian Weigl was missing due to suspension.
Despite the early shock, the guests played bravely at first. Gladbach let Kiel come and hoped for quick transitions. But because these silted up, there was hardly any danger on either side. It wasn’t until the 19th minute that Kleindienst was allowed to head again from five meters completely unchallenged, but he put the ball over the goal.
Gladbach now wanted to step up, shot from all positions – and was successful: Hack, who had been moved into the starting line-up, skillfully lifted the ball into the goal over keeper Timon Weiner after a pass from Nico Elvedi. Because Gigovic (30th) hit the right corner beautifully from 23 meters shortly afterwards, things became exciting for a short time – especially since Kiel was now happily involved again. Shortly before the break, Plea destroyed their faint hopes with his head.
In the second half, Gladbach initially pushed for a fourth goal from a secure defense before the encounter became increasingly flat and Borussia hardly did anything for the game. There was also little to see from Philipp Sander, who captained Kiel to promotion last season, against his former club. Plea then managed to score goal number four.
