Hertha hinder champions' hopes
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Article summary
FC Bayern München's title hopes took a knock as they were held 1-1 at Hertha BSC Berlin.
Article body
German champions FC Bayern München's hopes of retaining their Bundesliga title suffered another setback as they were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Hertha BSC Berlin today.
Bremen bonus
The result gave leaders SV Werder Bremen the chance to establish an eleven-point advantage at the head of the standings as they travel to mid-table VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Makaay moment
Ottmar Hitzfeld's side looked on course to close the gap at the top to six points as Dutch international striker Roy Makaay opened the scoring as early as the eighth minute with a well-struck shot from 20 metres.
Penalty paid
However, the visitors were unable to add to their lead, and were pegged back two minutes before half-time as Hertha won a penalty and Brazilian midfield player Marcelinho made no mistake from the spot.
Stuttgart slip up
Third-placed VfB Stuttgart also failed to take advantage of Bremen's inactivity as Felix Magath's team were held to a
2-2 draw at bottom side 1. FC Köln. Silvio Meissner gave the visitors a first-half lead, only for Florian Kringe to equalise on the stroke of half-time. Markus Feulner put Köln in front in the 71st minute, but Matthias Scherz's own goal a minute later gave Stuttgart a draw.
Leverkusen lift
Bayer 04 Leverkusen moved into fourth place as
second-half goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Marko Babic earned a 2-0 victory at FC Hansa Rostock. Klaus Augenthaler's side therefore moved above VfL Bochum 1848, who surrendered a two-goal lead at 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Trailing 2-0 at half-time thanks to efforts from Vahid Hashemian and Dariusz Wosz, two goals in nine minutes from Vratislav Lokvenc early in the second half earned the home side a point.
Dortmund delight
BV Borussia Dortmund climbed to sixth place as goals in either half from Ewerthon and Jan Koller earned a 2-0 success at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, who had Henning Bürger sent off shortly before half-time.
Schalke setback
FC Shalke 04 slipped below Dortmund as Hannover 96 earned a 2-2 draw in Gelsenkirchen, with Thomas Brdaric scoring twice for the visitors and only a late Ebbe Sand strike sparing Schalke from defeat.
Comfortable win
Finally, VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach ran out 3-0 winners at home to Hamburger SV, while in Sunday's other game, struggling TSV 1860 München meet SC Freiburg.
