Bayern crash at Mainz, Haaland hits hat-trick in Dortmund loss; Berlin hold Furth
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich suffered a title-party hangover Saturday in a shock 3-1 defeat at Mainz, while Erling Haaland claimed a hat-trick even though Borussia Dortmund also crashed 4-3 at home to Bochum.
A week ater Bayern beat second-placed Dortmund 3-1 in Munich to be crowned league champions for the tenth straight season, Germany’s top two clubs both lost.
Bayernbossjuliannagelsmannwasfuriousater his team’s lacklustre display at Mainz, who also hit the woodwork four times in a deserved victory.
“There are too many defeats, too many in the same manner,” Nagelsmann fumed.
“I think we always need a certain basic passion in our game, which we didn’t have today.
“To not go to the limit in every situation is human ater the tenth title in a row, but we still wear the badge on our chest.”
Germany Under-21 striker Jonathan Burkardt and French defender Moussa Niakhate gave Mainz an early 2-0 lead ater exploiting huge holes in Bayern’s defence. The Bavarians pulled one back when Robert Lewandowski rolled in his 34th Bundesliga goal this season, claiming a league record ater scoring 18 times away this campaign.
Midfielder Leandro Barreiro grabbed Mainz’s third goal just ater the break when his shot took a wicked deflection and looped into the Bayern goal.
In Dortmund, Bochum raced into a 2-0 lead ater just eight minutes thanks to goals by Sebastian Polter and Gerrit Holtmann.
Haaland led the fight back by converting two penalties, then tapped in his third goal with an hour played. However, Bochum hit back with goals in the final ten minutes.
Juergen Locadia fired one in before Milos Pantovic converted the winning penalty ater a handball by Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel.
Bochum claimed their second significant scalp this year following a shock 4-2 home win over Bayern in February. The Dortmund team trudged off to a chorus of whistles from their home fans.
“I can understand that the fans are annoyed, but the lads didn’t deserve to be insulted like that,” said Dortmund coach Marco Rose.
“We are all mega disappointed. We reacted well ater falling behind quickly, but when I look at the table and see 50 goals conceded (this season), it’s clear what the core issue is.”
Cologne climbed to sixth and stay on course to play European football next season ater a 4-1 romp at Augsburg.
Veteran striker Anthony Modeste converted a penalty, then fired in his second to seal the victory.
Stutgart kept alive their chances of avoiding relegation as midfielder Chris Fuehrich fired in a late equaliser off the crossbar to seal a 1-1 draw at
Burkardt and Niakhate gave Mainz an early 2-0 lead ater exploiting huge holes in Bayern’s defence. Barreiro grabbed Mainz’s third goal just ater the break when his shot took a wicked deflection and looped into the Bayern goal
home to Wolfsburg. Stutgart remain 16th, which carriesarelegationplay-offattheendoftheseason.
They have two tough games let - away to Bayern and home to Cologne - to bridge the four-point gap to 15th and guaranteed safety next season.
Hertha Berlin, who are four points and one place above Stutgart in the safety of 15th, are not yet sure of avoiding relegation ater a 1-1 draw at second-from-botom Arminia Bielefeld.
Hertha were cruising to a 1-0 win thanks to a header by midfielder Lucas Tousart before Swedish defender Joakim Nilsson nodded in a last-gasp equaliser for Bielefeld.
Earlier, Union Berlin substitute Sven Michel scored again to salvage a 1-1 draw against already relegated Greuther Fürth on Friday in his team’s 100th Bundesliga game since promotion.
Michel, who scored late and set up the other goal for Union to beat Leipzig 2-1 away last weekend, came on in the 70th minute and scored two minutes later when he forced Fürth defender Nick Viergever to lose the ball in his own penalty area.
Michel’s goal may yet prove vital in Union’s bid for European qualification. The team missed the chance to move to fith but it remained sixth, just a point behind Freiburg, which is two behind Leipzig in the last place for Champions League qualification.