Hertha Berlin striker Andriy Voronin, on loan from Liverpool, continued his heroics by scoring his first Bundesliga hat trick to send the Old Lady four points clear atop the Bundesliga. Confidence couldn’t be any higher for Lucien Favre’s men as they traveled 125 km to face Energie Cottbus in Das Ost-derby. The hosts began the match brightly and were rewarded 25 minutes into the game as Hertha keeper Jaroslav Drobny let Cagdas Atan’s free-kick slip between his legs. The lead was short lived though as Voronin out jumped Cottbus’ defender Radeljic to head in a fantastic cross by Patrick Ebert in the 34th minute. A minute before half time, the Ukranian doubled his tally by guiding in a low shot to send the visiting fans into a frenzy. Despite a second half rally from Cottbus, Hertha looked favorites to claim their first derby win since 2002, and Voronin sealed the win by scoring his 10th league goal with a brilliant solo effort two minutes from time.
Coming off a 2-1 win against Wehen in the DFB Pokal quarter final, Hamburg looked to keep pace atop the league table as they faced bottom place Mönchengladbach. Halfway into the first half, Rob Friend showed his loyalty to the home fans by putting Gladbach in the lead. Undeterred by Mladen Petric’s 10th league goal which leveled the tie five minutes later, Tobias Levels restored Gladbach’s lead three minutes before half time. The hosts continued to dominate in the second half as substitute Roel Brouwers scored a third which was followed by Marko Marin goal ten minutes later to give Gladbach a 4-1 win.
It was always going to be hard for Hoffenheim and Bremen to replicate their nine goal thriller when the two sides met last September. If the last encounter was marked by the goals, this encounter will be remembered by the goal-posts as Hoffenheim striker Sanogo, on loan from Bremen, hit the post thrice. The final 0-0 result sees Bremen remain winless in 2009. Like Bremen, Dortmund hoped to break their 2009 winless streak as they traveled to Stuttgart. Since his appointment as manager on November 23, thirty-six yr old Stuttgart manager Markus Babbel has yet to lose a league game with 6 wins and 3 draws under his belt. Elson scored his second goal in as many games to put Stuttgart ahead in the 10th minute. Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez equalized for Dortmund seven minutes into the second half but the visitors couldn’t hold on as “Super” Mario scored his 14th league goal to give Stuttgart all three points.
Koln took their 6 match unbeaten run away to Gelsinkerkin as they faced Schalke. It was a tightly contested affair between both teams in the early going but Jermaine Jones broke the stalemate halfway into the first half to give Schalke the lead. Germany’s first choice goalkeeper Manel Neuer kept Koln at bay as the visitors pressed for an equalizer, much to no avail. The 1-0 win keeps Schalke’s European football dream alive. Elsewhere, Wolfsburg’s C.E.O./Sporting director/Manager Felix Magath was also all smiles as Edin Dzeko lone goal was enough to see off relegation candidates Karlsruher. That’s five wins on the trot for Wolfsburg.
Neither Frankfurt nor Bielefeld could break the deadlock as both teams battled to a nil-nil draw despite a plethora of chances. Patrick Helmes saved Bayer Leverkusen blushes to rescue a point against Bochum. The Factory Squad wasted a host of chances in the first half and were made to pay when Christoph Dabrowski headed in his 6th league goal in the 32nd minute. However lady luck frowned on Bochum as Mergim Mavraj was sent off midway into the second half for a handball in his 18 yd box. Helmes converted the penalty as the game finished 1-1.
Goals from Van Buyten, Klose, Altintop, Podolski and Demichelis eased the pressure on Jurgen Klinsmann as Bayern Munich demolished Hannover 5-1. The Bavarians came roaring back after J. Stajner put Hannover into the lead fifteen minutes into the first half. Bayern responded with two goals in the next ten minutes and continued the onslaught with Altintop’s 34th minute strike. Second half goals from Koln bound Podolski and Demichelis put the result beyond doubt as Bayern secured its second league win in 2009.
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