Bundesliga
Stuttgart leads Freiburg – Bochum with a show of strength
Updated on January 18, 2025 – 5:41 p.mReading time: 3 min.
Stuttgart is still on the way up in the Bundesliga. In the Baden-Württemberg duel, VfB Freiburg left no chance. Meanwhile, things got furious in Bochum.
VfB Stuttgart got their third win in the third game of 2025. In the prestigious duel with SC Freiburg, coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team easily won 4-0 (3-0) and climbed to fourth place in the table.
Meanwhile, VfL Bochum continues to gain hope in the relegation battle. After the 1-0 win against St. Pauli during the week, VfL fought back to a 3-3 draw against RB Leipzig after being 3-0 down.
Bochum’s table neighbor Holstein Kiel has suffered a bitter setback in the relegation battle. The “Storks” lost 1:3 (0:2) against the struggling TSG Hoffenheim. FC St. Pauli also got its fourth away win this season. The North Germans won 2-0 (1-0) at 1. FC Heidenheim.
The runner-up is increasingly underlining its renewed Champions League ambitions and is continuing its successful start to the year. In a one-sided game, the Swabians celebrated an easy 4-0 (3-0) against the disappointing SC Freiburg.
Anthony Rouault (3rd minute), Ermedin Demirović (17th) and Nick Woltemade (45th+4) gave the fans a party atmosphere. With their goals they decided the prestigious duel in the first half. Substitute Deniz Undav scored the final score (80th). In the fight for the European Cup places, VfB distanced itself from its national rivals by five points in the table and climbed to fourth place.
Leipzig spectacularly squandered a three-goal lead at VfL Bochum and suffered the next low blow in the fight for the Champions League places. Coach Marco Rose’s team only managed a 3:3 (3:0) win at the Revierklub. At VfL, Myron Boadu was crowned man of the day with a hat trick.
In front of 24,158 spectators in the Ruhrstadion, Willi Orban (10th minute), Antonio Nusa (13th) and Christoph Baumgartner (22nd) gave Leipzig a seemingly reassuring lead. However, Boadu (48th/56th/61st/foul penalty) ensured the frenetically celebrated equalizer.
-The Bochum team, who were almost hopeless weeks ago, showed impressive comeback qualities. Staying in the Bundesliga is once again a realistic goal.
Thanks to Andrej Kramarić of all people, TSG Hoffenheim has stopped their free fall in the Bundesliga for the time being. Coach Christian Ilzer’s team deservedly won the basement duel at Holstein Kiel with 3:1 (2:0).
Kramarić made everything clear with his goal to make it 2-0 shortly before the break (45th + 1). Adam Hložek also scored a brace (26th and 56th), Kiel didn’t make enough of its opportunities, and the connection from joker Andu Kelati (84th) came too late.
An injury to referee Felix Brych resulted in an interruption of almost seven minutes. Brych pointed to his left calf after 65 minutes when the score was 0:3 and had to relinquish control of the game a short time later. Sven Jablonski, who had previously been the fourth official, took over for the 49-year-old.
The Hamburg team won 2-0 (1-0) at the start of the second half of the season and thus moved away from 1. FC Heidenheim. It was the first sense of success for coach Alexander Blessin’s strong away team this calendar year after two previous defeats.
Heidenheim cannot build on the strong start to the year. After the success against 1. FC Union Berlin (2:0) and the spectacular last-minute draw at Werder Bremen (3:3), the hosts had to accept a setback against St. Pauli in order to stay in the league. A 2-0 defeat sees them drop to 16th place in the relegation relegation zone.
The recently highly praised Heidenheim newcomer Frans Krätzig, who knocked his opponent to the ground in the penalty area, initiated the defeat. Johannes Eggestein safely converted the penalty due in front of 15,000 spectators (25th). Morgan Guilavogui made the decision in stoppage time (90th +2). Immediately beforehand, FCH had been denied their supposed equalizer due to an offside position.
Swiss
