Borussia Dortmund missed a chance to draw level with FC Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga table on Saturday as they were held 3-3 by relegation-threatened VfB Stuttgart.
When Silas Katompa Mvumpa guided home his 97th-minute leveller it was a hammer blow to Die Schwarzgelben’s title dreams who, with six games left to play, are only two points behind the Bavarians; but head coach Edin Terzic will see this as a lost opportunity having watched his team surrender a two-goal lead against ten men. Things were going well for the visitors when Sebastien Haller and Donyell Malen made it 2-0 in the first half, before Stuttgart went down to ten before the break when defender Konstantinos Mavropanos picked up his second yellow card.
The score remained at 2-0 until the 78th minute when Tanguy Coulibaly’s deflected effort hit the net and BVB lost their nerve, conceding a second to Josha Vagnoman with five minutes remaining. Dortmund thought they’d won it when Gio Reyna restored their lead on 92 minutes but Silas popped up to pile on the late agony.
There will be twists and turns to come in the title run-in and, here at SBOTOP we’ll be there every step of the way; but the Bundesliga 2023 betting odds are now firmly behind the reigning champions.
Mane’s Mad Year in Munich
But not everything is sweetness and light in Munich following reports that Mane punched his team-mate Leroy Sane in the aftermath of Die Bayern’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City last week. The Senegalese star was missing from the line-up when FC Bayern drew 1-1 with Hoffenheim and it remains to be seen whether he will reappear in the near future. This latest drama comes at a time when his former club Liverpool is struggling in the Premier League and Mane may be regretting his move to Bavaria, as the Anfield fans surely are.
He made a bright enough start at Munich but an injury in November meant he missed the World Cup in Qatar and Mane was sidelined for three months, undergoing surgery on his right fibula. He returned to action in March but this latest drama has seen him fined and suspended by the club, which has a mountain to climb in their Champions League second leg.
When Thomas Tuchel arrived in Munich to be the new head coach I’m sure he didn’t expect to be sorting out a fight between two of his stars…but that’s football!
Werner shows Chelsea how to score
Another player who may be missed in the Premier League is former Chelsea striker Timo Werner who, while his former team scored its first goal in five games in a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion, struck twice in four minutes to give Leipzig a 3-2 win over FC Augsburg. With the score at 1-1, half an hour into the game, Werner scored with a clinical finish when he met a cross from Benjamin Henrichs. And his second, on 35 minutes, was a screamer as he took a pass from Kevin Kampl just outside the penalty area and hammered his shot high into the top right corner, leaving the Augsburg keeper clutching at air. The visitors nicked a late consolation but Red Bull hung on for a vital win.
He struggled for consistency at Stamford Bridge, but Werner is a class striker who is one of the best marksmen in the business when his confidence is high. And it was a much-needed three points for Leipzig who climbed to third place, on 51 points and four clear of SC Freiburg in fifth. Fourth-placed Union Berlin are in action on Sunday, as are Freiburg, and the chase for the top four is hotting up.
But for now Werner and Leipzig can enjoy their weekend.
Hertha in Crisis
In other Bundesliga 2023 news Hertha Berlin’s place among the German elite is looking in grave danger after they slumped to a fourth defeat in a six-match winless run. But this loss to Schalke could turn out to be a mortal blow. Not only did the Berliners get slapped 5-2 but their opponents started the game bottom of the table and have now handed that unwanted honour over to Hertha.
The founding members of the German Football Association with a 75,000 capacity-stadium really look out of place in the second tier. They are twice Bundesliga winners, five times runners up and three times DFB Pokal winners. But you can’t live in the past and Hertha Berlin are now two points behind the play-off spot of 16th and four behind Bochum in 15th.
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