Bayern Munich stay six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table thanks to a thumping 4-1 victory away to Hertha Berlin, but it was needed following a weekend when every one of the chasing pack also won.
The Bundesliga 2022 betting odds are right behind the Bavarians to win a record tenth successive league title, but as long as their rivals keep winning then the pressure will stay on with 14 games still to play.
There were victories for Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and SC Freiburg in the race for European places, as well as Union Berlin and RB Leipzig, who make up the top six after an impressive 2-0 victory over Wolfsburg.
But after watching those five teams all pick up wins, FC Bayern were clinical against a Hertha Berlin side which could still get sucked into a relegation battle. Corentin Tolisso headed in a Kingsley Coman cross to give Die Bayern a first-half lead and, as the Bavarians camped in the Berlin half, the pressure eventually told as top assister Thomas Muller helped himself to a goal when he got on the end of a Joshua Kimmich free-kick.
Hertha stopper Alexander Schlowow was the busiest man on the park as Bayern rained 30 shots, 19 on target, on his goal and he was picking the ball put of the net again when Leroy Sane scored on 75 minutes and Serge Gnabry added another four minutes later. Jurgen Ekkelenkamp came on as an 80th-minute substitute and scored a consolation with his first touch.
Haaland is hot, hot, hot!
He’s been the subject of transfer speculation yet again, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both interested in taking him to La Liga, and we here at SBOTOP are keeping a close eye on that story, but Erling Braut Haaland was at it again as Borussia Dortmund earned a crucial three points in a five-goal thriller away to Hoffenheim.
The giant Norwegian took just six minutes to get on the score sheet with his 16th goal of the campaign, converting a cross from Donyell Malen from close range.
Hoffenheim’s Chris Richards crashed a header against the crossbar and then Andrej Kramaric levelled on the stroke of half-time with a right-footed effort low into the corner.
Dortmund were ahead again and Malen was the provider once more with a pinpoint through ball which Marco Reus swept home. Then, midway through the second half, David Raum headed into his own goal to give BVB some breathing space.
But they needed it. When Georginio Rutter made to 3-2, there were still 12 nervy minutes for Dortmund to see out, which they did, but Sebastian Rudy was inches away from an equaliser in the 89th minute.
Leverkusen can score without Schick
With 18 goals already to his name, Czech striker Patrik Schick is chasing Robert Lewandowski for the Bundesliga Golden Boot, and you’d think he’d have a share of the goals in a 5-1 win for Bayer Leverkusen over FC Augsburg. But he didn’t, and it was fellow striker Moussa Diaby who filled his boots with a hat-trick as Die Werkself held on to third place amid pressure from Union Berlin.
Karim Bellarabi got the ball rolling for Bayer when he squeezed in the opener from a tight angle and then Diaby doubled the hosts’ lead with a well-taken left-footed goal.
Arne Maier halved the deficit just after the hour but then Diaby took the game away from Augsburg. He used his left peg to make it 3-1 from close range, and again, from the left side of the penalty area to make it 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining. Lucas Alario rounded off the scoring after latching on to a through ball from Robert Andrich as Die Werkself ran out convincing winners.
It’s not often Schick misses out, but he’ll be happy to give the limelight to Diaby this week.
Freiburg back on track
SC Freiburg earned their first victory of 2022 thanks to a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Stuttgart. Hiroki Ito scored the only goal of the opening half, but the Stuttgart man put through his own net on 37 minutes to give Freiburg a lift up.
The hosts pushed for a second but couldn’t find a sharp edge until the 71st minute, when Ermedin Demirovic headed down and Kevin Schade fired low into the bottom right corner.
Roland Sallai almost bagged a third deep into stoppage time but his header flew narrowly wide. This was a welcome three points for fifth-placed Freiburg after they suffered a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last week.
Their Bundesliga 2022 results have been better than many pundits expected, and now head coach Christian Streich will have high hopes of leading Freiburg into Europe.
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