Like Leonidas, Gekas Slays Die Wolfe And Is Pronounced A Greek God.

Round eleven has seen some very surprising results, and none more so than Frankfurt thumping Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich just nipping a point at Gladbach. Let’s get to the results!

Borussia Monchengladbach 3 – 3 Bayern Munich

I thought Bayern might thump their hosts here, but boy was I wrong. To be fair, though, Bayern had the chance to go 3-1 up in the first half from the penalty spot, but Bastian Schweinsteiger was unable to find the back of the net just minutes before half-time. This belter of a match got it’s first goal through youngster Patrick Herrmann, but Bayern quickly pegged their opponents back through Mario Gomez. Bayern went 1-2 up through Bastian Schweinsteiger, and the midfield had a chance to make it 1-3 just before the break, but missed from the penalty spot. After the break, Gladbach showed their ambition to go forward, and scored twice to go 3-2 up through Marco Reus and Igor de Camargo. With Die Roten staring at defeat, it was Philipp Lahm who rescued his side with just minutes left on the clock to make it a 3-3 draw. Louis van Gaal will be livid. His side could and should have been coasting into a comfortable 1-3 lead going into the break. To make things worse, they conceded another two goals after the break and rarely looked like they could win the match from there. Gladbach will be delighted because they’ve been on woeful form. Frontzeck will praise his squad for playing with such determination, but it’ll be an absolutely rainy day for the Bayern Munich squad. Hoeness has already blasted Van Gaal for his methods, and this will only add to the pressure that is already seriously mounting on the Dutch tactician. Not the result the reigning champions were hoping for at all.

Eintracht Frankfurt 3 – 1 VfL Wolfsburg

Frankfurt’s incredible run continues with a fantastic 3-1 win over Wolfsburg here. Steve McClaren’s side will be disheartened with the loss, and the English manager will be disappointed with how things are going early on in the season. This isn’t the start Wolfsburg were looking for this season, especially after splashing so much cash on some big name players in the summer. Simon Kjaer, who conceded a penalty this afternoon, has never looked up to snuff since his move from Palermo. The young Dane had previously impressed in Sicily and at the World Cup, but has so far failed to make a positive impact in Germany. Frankfurt’s Theofanis Gekas, who has really exploded onto the Bundesliga this season after dodgy spells with Portsmouth and Hertha Berlin, hit a brace (as I predicted!) and Pirmin Schwegler hit an absolute rocket to condemn Wolfsburg to defeat. Their only consolation came through Ashkan Dejagah just after the hour mark.

Hamburg SV 2 – 1 TSG Hoffenheim

Armin Veh may be boring, but he does get some impressive results. Hoffenheim took an early lead from the penalty spot through Sejad Salihovic, and should have been 2-0 up had it not been for Demba Ba’s shot hitting the crossbar. Hamburg got themselves back into the match through Heiko Westermann just before half-time, and won it late through Mladen Petric, who I still think is the scariest striker in the league. Hoffenheim had a comfortable hold on third place before this loss, but now have a high chance of being leapfrogged by some of the league’s other European challengers. They’ll need to turn it around and quick, but an away win at Hamburg was never going to be a walk in the park.

Nurnberg 3 – 1 FC Koln

I wanted Koln to continue their form and thump Nurnberg here, but you can’t what you want. Jens Hegeler took an 11th minute lead for the home side, but Koln pinned their hosts back five minutes later through a Geromel header. Ilkay Gundogan and Julian Schieber were on hand to condemn Koln to defeat, though. The result takes Nurnberg to sixth place, tied on points with Hoffenheim, Leverkusen, Hamburg and Freiburg. Obviously, competition for that third Champions League spot is going to be hot this season. Werder Bremen and Stuttgart will also have their eyes firmly planted on it, and they both play tomorrow. It’s going to get very interesting very shortly! But I digress. Nurnberg were on the verge of relegation last season, and look how they’ve progressed! Good on them.

SC Freiburg 1 – 0 Mainz

A Papiss Cisse penalty was all Freiburg needed to defeat Mainz and continue their push for a European place. Thankfully for Tuchel’s side, they still hold a fantastic six point lead over sixth place and no European football. They’ve got some room to breathe, but not nearly enough to be letting their guard down. Mainz need to pick it up, and Tuchel’s got to find a way to continue to get the best out of his young players. If Dortmund win tomorrow, then Mainz will be four points away from the summit, so their main concern will be trying to force European qualification. If they can do that, they’ll profit big time from the cash flow of the Champions League, and then they’ll be able to reinforce an already strong squad. But I’m getting ahead of myself! We’ll see what round twelve holds for our cinderella side.