Bayern crash at Mainz; Dortmund lose despite Haaland hat-trick
BA ERN Munich crashed 3-1 at mid-table Mainz a week after clinching a 10th straight Bundesliga title and secondplaced Borussia Dortmund also lost on Saturday, 4-3 at home against Bochum despite an Erling Haaland hat-trick.
Mainz won from Jonathan Burkardt’s low drive, Moussa Niakhate’s tap-in and Leandro Barreiro against a makeshift Bayern side. Robert Lewandowski was on target for his 34th league goal of the season and record 18th away goal in a Bundesliga campaign.
Haaland reversed an 2-0 deficit from Sebastian Polter’s header and
Gerrit Holtmann’s classy shot into the far right corner with two first-half penalties and a fumbled effort. But Bochum had the last laugh from J rgen Locadia and Milos Pantovic’s spot kick in final minutes.
Bochum’s first win in Dortmund in 24 years win made sure that they won’t be relegated.
The day’s drama was at the bottom where VfB Stuttgart and Arminia Bielefeld got last-gasp 1-1 equalizers against Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin in their fight against the drop.
Substitute Chris F hrich volleyed into the roof of the net in the 89th for third-last Stuttgart to cancel out John Anthony Brooks’ early header for Wolfsburg, who are now safe.
In Bielefeld, Hertha led from Lucas Tousart but Joakim Nilsson headed the hosts level in stoppage time which means that Hertha are not yet safe. They are four points ahead of Stuttgart in the relegation play-off spot with two games left, with second-bottom Bielefeld another two back.
“We weren’t brilliant but we weren’t expecting this. Unfortunately we came under pressure in the end. The situation remains critical between Stuttgart and us,” Hertha coach Felix Magath told Sky TV. Magath added he hopes that Bayern will make a bigger effort next weekend against Stuttgart than they did on the day in Mainz.
A Bayern win would assure Hertha of survival regardless of the outcome of their game against Mainz.
European contenders Cologne won 4-1 in Augsburg thanks to teenager Jan Thielmann, Mark Uth and a second-half-brace from Anthony Modeste, with the hosts all but safe despite the heavy defeat.
Cologne rose into sixth past Union Berlin, who drew 1-1 with relegated Greuther F rth on Friday.
The remaing three games - Hoffenheim v Freiburg later on Saturday and Bayern Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia M nchengladbach v RB Leipzig on Monday - are also important in the fight for European berths.