Bundesliga Matchday 21 roundup

Augsburg 3 -0 Eintracht Frankfurt
(Koo 19', Gregoritsch 76', Richter 89)

Augsburg put themselves back in the European mix with a dominant win over Frankfurt that means just four points separate 2nd from 8th. The hosts opened the scoring after 20 minutes when a scuffed shot deflected in to the path of Koo Ja-Cheol. The South Korean danced his way past a pair of Frankfurt defenders before rolling one off the inside post and in.

The hosts continued to dominate proceedings, with only keeper Lukas Hradecky keeping Frankfurt in the game. But even he was powerless to stop Michael Gregoritsch sealing the win with his ninth goal of the league season. The Austrian continued his superb form by controlling Caiuby’s knockdown before spinning to volley home without the ball touching the ground.

There was still time for Marco Richter to ice the cake with a smart, low left footed finish after some shambolic Frankfurt defending. It was the Bayern Munich youth product's first Bundesliga goal in only his second substitute appearance. 

Hamburg 1 - 1 Hannover
(Kostic 86' - Fossum 37')

Hamburg are still searching for a first win since November after a late equalizer prevented Hannover from moving in to the top half.

A stunning strike from Iver Fossum gave the visitors a first half lead. The Norwegian controlled a cleared corner with his chest before striking a dipping volley from just outside the box to register his first Bundesliga goal.

Ihlas Bebou should have doubled the visitors’ lead shortly after the break and that miss proved costly when Filip Kostic reacted fastest to a loose ball from a set piece to slam home at the back post. Kyriakos Papadopoulos was sent off late on fro a trip on the edge of his box.

 Cologne 2 - 3 Borussia Dortmund
(Zoller 60', Mere 70' — Batshuayi 33', 62', Schürrle 84')

Friday evening's game was a scrappy but entertaining affair, and quite a Bundesliga start for Michy Batshuayi. The Belgian became the first Bundesliga debutante to score multiple goals since....Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Although, if we're being picky, Auba scored a hat trick on his Dortmund debut against Augsburg — and he did so playing on the wing, supporting Robert Lewandowski. 

Schalke 1 - 2 Werder Bremen
(Koponlyanka 24', — Kruse 79', Junuzovic 90+3')

Comedy goalkeeping took centre-stage in Gelsenkirchen as Werder Bremen secured all three points away to Schalke. An early howler from Jiri Pavlenka allowed Yevhen Konoplyanka to open the scoring with a seemingly innocuous strike, before Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann took it upon himself to level the field. The German fumbled a tame effort to gift Max Kruse a goal moments after Matija Nastasic was sent-off for a second bookable offence. He was then nutmegged as Zlatko Junuzovic scored a last-gasp winner. 

Mainz 0 - 2 FC Bayern
(Ribery 33', James 44' )

Two first half volleys ensured Bayern maintained their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table. Mainz looked dead and buried from the moment Franck Ribery pinged a low drive through a crowded penalty area and into the far corner. James lashed his own effort into the same spot after bringing down a Corentin Tolisso cross with divine control. From then on, it was simply a matter of keeping their hosts at bay.

Hertha Berlin 1 - 1 Hoffenheim
(Kalou 58' — Kramaric 38')

A share of the spoils seemed fair in a match in which neither side appeared particularly dominant. Hertha were knocking the ball around their own penalty area with worrying nonchalance before Niklas Stark hacked down Niklas Schulz after losing it. It could be argued that Schulz made a nuisance of himself from an offside position but the situation was avoidable regardless of dubious refereeing decisions. The penalty was calmly dispatched by Andrej Kramaric. Kalou then bundled home a close range header to record his eighth goal of the season and send both teams home with a point. 

Wolfsburg 1 - 1 Stuttgart
(Origi 24' — Gomez 60')

Wolfsburg's strange obsession with drawing games looked set to continue the moment Mario Gomez appeared in his usual spot to level the score in the second half. The hosts had taken the lead in the first period after some sloppy Stuttgart midfield play allowed Divock Origi to curl home from 25 yards. This was Wolfsburg's 12th draw of the season, more than half of their 21 games played.

Freiburg 0 - 0 Leverkusen

The only interesting thing about this one was the fact a single point was enough to lift Leverkusen back above Borussia Dortmund and into second place (at least temporarily). The visitors have, quite rightly, received a lot of praise for their attacking prowess this season — with the likes of Leon Bailey and Kevin Volland simply blowing defenses away. It wasn't on show here though, and they can be thankful Nils Peterson didn't make them suffer the way he has other teams this season. The Freiburg striker came close with his weaker left peg with around 20 minutes left to play.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 1 RB Leipzig
(Lookman 89')

Another game, another Premier League loanee making an instant impact. Before Ademola Lookman slalomed his way into Gladbach's penalty area and placed his shot beyond Tobi Sippel, this game had been a tense affair littered with hapless finishing, sublime goalkeeping and a glaring lack of goals. The Everton loanee popped up in the 89th minute to bag three points and send Leipzig up to third in the table. He'll sleep well tonight.