Bayern Munich hoped Borussia Dortmund beat Leipzig to further widen the three point gap to six points with a hope to get a home win against Schalke 04.
Find out as the matches unfolded and as Leipzig continue their shock fight for the title.
BAYERN MUNICH FRUSTRATED BY SCHALKE
Bayern Munich were left frustrated as resilient and impressive Schalke fought for a 1-1 draw as they failed to widen the gap maximally between them and Leipzig who played later in the day.
Robert Lewandowski scored in the ninth minute on the end of a neat move, but it was generally as good as it got for Bayern on a scrappy outing.
Naldo's thunderbolt free-kick levelled the scores soon after and Schalke were a constant menace on the counter-attack.
Bayern were rewarded for a probing start when Lewandowski chipped over Ralf Fahrmann after Arturo Vidal's throughball bisected the Schalke defence.
But the visitors' search for an equaliser was brief, Naldo slamming a 25-yard free-kick around the wall and beyond a grasping Manuel Neuer.
Schalke gave as good as they got, Sead Kolasinac smashing straight at Neuer before Juan Bernat did likewise at the other end.
Weinzierl's side were creating the better chances, Leon Goretzka slashed wide after touching past Rafinha smartly and the young midfielder saw another chance go begging as he delayed a shot one-on-one, allowing Bernat to recover and make a crucial tackle.
Guido Burgstaller hit the bar from Kolasinac's cut-back as Schalke stayed on top, but Lewandowski kept them on warning just before the break, also hitting the woodwork after shifting into space in the six-yard box.
Daniel Caligiuri was correctly denied a goal on his first Schalke start after touching home Nabil Bentaleb's shot as the visitors continued to threaten on the break and the Allianz Arena rose to salute Holger Badstuber just before the hour - the on-loan Bayern defender substituted on his Schalke debut.
Ancelotti was not pressed into changes until the 71st minute when Douglas Costa replaced Arjen Robben, and the sense of need was heightened when senior full-backs Lahm and Alaba replaced Rafinha and Bernat.
As well as Lahm, Xabi Alonso was another milestone man on his 100th Bayern appearance and he lashed over to prompt a late wave of chances for the hosts.
The best chance came for Javi Martinez, picked out by Alaba in the right channel, but the Spaniard dragged his shot wide to end Bayern's seven-game winning run and give Leipzig - four points off the pace - a sniff of top spot again.
Captain Philip Lahm made his landmark 500th appearance for the club coming on as substitute.
AUBAMEYANG SINKS LEIPZIG
Leipzig could have celebrated Bayern's draw at Allianz Arena hoping that a win would close the gap between them to just a single point.
However, nothing as such would happen as Aubameyang won the game with his header for a 1-0 win with the gap between Bayern and Leipzig further increasing to four points.
Leipzig were greeted by negative banners attacking their ownership at Signal Iduna Park and their day did not get better when Aubameyang ended a two-match league spell without a goal by netting with a first-half header to move onto 17 league goals this season.
Leipzig were without key players Timo Werner, Emil Forsberg and Marcel Sabitzer, but still threatened first when Willi Orban sent a header straight at Roman Burki after being found by Rani Khedira, one of the visitors' three changes.
Dortmund responded when Ousmane Dembele – in as one of Tuchel's three alterations – showed superb pace down the right and crossed for Aubameyang, who headed over.
That duo combined again in the 35th minute and this time there was no mistake with the finish, Dembele cruising past defenders Marvin Compper and Orban before his cross took out goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to leave Aubameyang with a simple task to head in from inside the six-yard box.
Dortmund wasted a glorious chance to double their lead early in the second half when Aubameyang led a rapid counterattack and fed Reus, but the Germany international scuffed a left-footed finish wide with only Gulacsi to beat.
Another opportunity went begging when Aubameyang raced clear after Reus had turned creator, the league's top scorer working half a yard of space away from Compper before sending a poor finish straight at Gulacsi.
Dortmund suffered a major blow when the impressive Dembele pulled up with an injury on the hour mark, Christian Pulisic replacing him.
The hosts' profligacy continued when Reus fired another excellent chance wide after Lukasz Piszczek produced a clever throughball on his 250th club appearance.
Reus then failed to beat Gulacsi with yet another opportunity from close range before Leipzig's Dayotchanculle Upamecano somehow cleared substitute Matthias Ginter's effort off the line.
Leipzig failed to force Burki into a single second-half save, but almost grabbed a stoppage-time leveller when Palacios-Martinez found the bottom corner, only for the assistant to correctly flag for offside as Dortmund held out for a deserved victory that extended their unbeaten home league run to 30 games.
THE BUNDESLIGA TOP FOUR
With Leipzig failing to close on the gap, they are now four points away (42 points) from Bayern Munich who sit atop the table with 46 points, Borussia Dortmund move up third with the win, with 34 points, way far from the top 2, level on points with TSG Hoffenheim with Borussia leading on goal difference.
Resilient Schalke 04 sit at 11th position, one spot away from the top ten, with 22 points.
0 comments:
Post a Comment