German Bundesliga Review, 19th Nov 2011

By Raghavan,

Dominating talks going into the week was the high profile clash between the top two teams in the Bundesliga, also the top two goal scoring and top two miserly teams. Bayern Munich went into this fixture enjoying a breezy 5 point lead at the top of the table, and having not conceded at home since the opening day of the season. Dortmund, who have a midweek Champions League encounter against Arsenal, went to the Allianz Arena in sublime goal scoring form after putting 5 past the likes of Wolfsburg in recent weeks. A victory for Bayern will put them at ease for most of the season, while a win for Dortmund would once again open up more possibilities. Team news for Bayern, Arjen Robben makes a start, while Ilkay Gundogan makes way for Sebastian Kehl for the the visitors as also Santana started in place of Neven Subotic. A goal fest was expected, but it turned out to be a hard fought low scoring victory for.... DORTMUND!!

The match received its first foul early when Sven Bender bundled over Frank Ribery looking to start a counter. That set the tone for the rest of the match witnessed by congested midfield battles in which the key operator, Luis Gustavo, did a good job in pegging back the visitors in their own half as Shinji Kagawa was absent for most part of the first half. However it was Mario Gotze who came closest to opening the scoring as early in the tenth minute when his free kick was deflected wide by the wall. Around the half hour mark Ribery unleashed a furious right foot that just went over Wiedenfeller after a quick one-two with Toni Kroos. The first half ended with Dortmund the happier team as Schmelzer did a great job of ensuring Arjen Robben saw very little of the ball, a job that he would continue into the second half as well.

Early in the second half Bayern and the Bundesliga's top scorer Mario Gomez who shot wide with what was literally his first clear chance of the game, which went to show case the resolute positioning by Hummels and Santana. Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski sent through a well timed ball to put Shinji Kagawa in yards of space, but Manuel Neuer advanced quickly and won the one on one situation to keep the hosts still in the hunt, but the resulting play wasn't still over as the rebound fell to eventual scorer Mario Gotze who shot wide as well. Gotze made amends immediately n the 65th minute with an exchange of passes in the center of the midfield with Kagawa, a trademark that Dortmund have always mesmerized opponents with, and made no mistake with the finish this time as Dortmund took a significant lead in the context of this season's Bundesliga. Jupp Hyncke ringed the changes and took off the surprisingly unnoticeable Robben for out of favor striker Ivica Olic. Soon later Robert Lewandowski found himself putting the ball in the net, after Kevin Grosskreutz made a meal of  Rafinha with his run down Dortmund's left, but the goal was ruled offside giving hope for Bayern to pull something back. But that was not to be as Dortmund defended resolutely, with Santana in particular rendering Thomas Muller unable to produce anything of quality for his team mates despite getting himself into Dortmund's box often. A great result for Dortmund which can be judged from Jurgen Klopp's punches in the air after the whistle went. A great game for Schmelzer in particular, for Gotze and Santana as well while Robben will have a difficult task remembering the last time he was so quiet.

The result was music to ears for another team too - another Borussia - Monchengladbach, who handed out a sound 5-0 thrashing to Werder Bremen in a game which would see the winner go onto 3rd place. It turned out to be a complete disaster for Bremen as they struggled to even a meagerly productive length of time. The quarter of an hour mark saw young Patrick Hermann breach the Bremen defence before Tim Weise's block sent the ball to Neustadter, who had earlier missed a similar chance by shooting above, who crossed it back in for Hermann to get the header in and give M'gladbach the lead. Around half an hour, Mike Hanke found himself with just the keeper to beat after he nicely gathered Marco Reus's through ball, but failed miserably at the finish which was fired way way wide and high.A little later Bremen lost the ball in midfield, which was duly gathered up by Reus who made a slaloming solo run past one midfielder and two defenders to complete a totally spectacular goal. It was to get worse for Bremen as Reus, once again, from the edge of the box lashed onto a cutback by Hermann that Wiese couldn't hope to save and it was at 3-0 that the half time ended.

Reus completed his hat trick by the 50th minute and after a poor clearance by Bremen helped Juan Arango to find Wiese's top right corner by lashing onto the loose ball, it appeared to be heading to a demonic scoreline, with more than half an hour remaining. And it did get worse for Bremen, though not by scoreline, as Sokratis Papasthapolous received his second yellow 15 minutes before time. But having done their job, Reus and Hermann were taken off, and perhaps that made it easier for Bremen to finish the game without it getting any worse. M'gladbach move to third, reminiscent of how FSV Mainz were positioned around the same stage this season. They are enjoying a dream run of sorts.

The result helped Schalke move to 4th after they swept 4-0 by a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar brace, that was Sandwiched by a goal by Raul. Lewis Holtby provided the toppings with a goal in the 84th minute. Jurado didn't start but the budding youngster Julian Draxler did.

Elsewhere Sidney Sam and Michael Ballack scored to give Leverkusen a 2-0 victory at Kaiserslautern that keeps them at 6th and within range of 3rd place. And also Freiberg and Hertha Berlin played out a 2-2 draw at Freiberg.

Winners: M'gladbach - A team of fringe players ever on the rise, and a 5-0 win against a quality opposition is a testament to their team spirit and work ethic, a true 5-star performance; Dortmund- beating Bayern at home, the defending champions show why they are rated highly, and they are back in the title hunt

Losers: Bremen - well, its a 5-0 loss, they were completely at bay and couldn't even get off enough shots at the M'gladbach goal, lost heavily on possession too; Bayern- rendered ineffective by an organised midfield and some resolute defending, they were unable to produce the same performance that pulverized the likes of Hamburg 6-0