NOW IT IS LEVERKUSEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP TO LOSE

All match reviews by Tim Leidecker tim@milanmania.com unless otherwise
stated.

31 MARCH 2002

KÖLN				1-1		SCHALKE
Lottner 60					Sand 40

Dutch international Niels Oude Kamphuis, playing out of position as
right back in a three man defense, ridiculed the awful Cichon on the
wing, Sand beat 3 defenders to his cross, rounded the 'keeper and
fired high into the net from an acute angle.

A nice "Ballstafette" via Song, Scherz and Kurth opened up the chance
for Lottner, Köln's lone halfway serious scoring threat this season,
and he did with a nice volley from just outside the area, precisely
at the hour. Song also hit the crossbar in the dying minutes.

Schalke expectedly pissed away their chance of entering the title race
but this draw also greatly decreases their chances of making the CL next
season. Overtaking Bayern would certainly have given the "Knappen" a
mental advantage over the defending Champions.

Assists: Oude Kamphuis, Kurth
Attendance: 30,000 (sold out)


BREMEN				4-3		ROSTOCK
Aílton 3, 90 (Pen)					Rydlewicz 24 (Pen)
Frings 47					Di Salvo 30
Rost 90						Schröder 49

Hansa again started with Daniel Klewer between the posts who played well
last week against Hamburg, even though 39-year-old Bräutigam was back
from suspension. Werder was missing international striker Marco Bode for
the first time this season.

Despite or because (?) of that the home side took the early lead when
Aílton, making his 100th Bundesliga game, raced onto Lisztes' excellent
through pass and rifled into the top-right corner from an acute angle.
Werder now made the mistake to sit on their lead like a fat maggot on
a rotten apple and they had to pay dearly!

Rostock were awarded a correct penalty when Krstajic unnecessarily
clipped Ronald Maul even though Frank Rost would certainly have gotten
to the ball, Rydlewicz was indifferent and slammed the spot kick into
the roof! Hansa even went on to take the lead after Werder tried to play
offsides on the centerline (!) *shakeshead*, Rydlewicz was clear through
on the right, soared into the box and served Di Salvo the 1-2 on a
silver plate.

Werder wanted to make up for their horrid defensive mistakes and they
did when Frings headed in Lisztes' free kick only 2 minutes after the
break to tie the game. But immediately they threw it away again:
Directly from kick-off Hansa settled around the green-white area and
after the Werder defense failed to cut out a Yasser cross substitute
defender Schröder, who came on for Di Salvo to bolster up the defense,
poked the ball in from the resulting goalmouth scramble.

The home side headlessly attacked now and Hansa almost scored the 2-4
when substitute Baumgart fired against the post 1-on-1 with the 'keeper.
And the great Frank Rost it was who almost impossibly turned this game
around when he became only the 2nd goalkeeper ever to score from open
play to grab the last gasp equalizer from Lisztes' corner. The madness
did not stop here though, it just continued, Frings was awarded a, to
say the least, "debatable" penalty which Aílton converted for the most
unlikely of all comebacks!

With Bayern (away), Schalke (home), Leverkusen (away) and Dortmund
(away) Werder will have a big say in who makes the Champions League
this season. Remember that the glorious SVW won all encounters against
the Top Four in the first leg of the season except for the Dortmund
game which they only, unluckily, drew.

Assists: Lisztes (x2), Maul, Rydlewicz, Jakobsson, Verlaat, Frings
Attendance: 26,742


30 MARCH 2002

HAMBURG			0-0		BAYERN

Pieckenhagen made a nice save against Effenberg after good work from
Paulo Sergio. Meijer knocked down a Hollerbach cross and easily cruised
around the awfully slow Linke before shooting just wide. Kahn did well
to twist Romeo's shot around the post early in the 2nd half.

Bayern, missing a couple of important players in Scholl (came on in the
2nd half but had to be taken off again, presumably because of injury),
Kuffour & Sagnol and clearly not giving 100% ahead of Tuesday's clash
with Real Madrid, were unable to wear down a usually hard-working HSV.

Attendance: 55,000 (sold out)


NÜRNBERG			3-0		WOLFSBURG
Rink 14 (Pen)
Krzynówek 74 (Pen)
Gomis 86

Krzynówek won a penalty, Rink had his first weakly-struck attempt saved
by VfL 'keeper Ramovic but managed to score on the rebound. Nürnberg's
Polish winger converted more sovereignly midway through the second half
after Jarolim dived over Ramovic. Gomis sealed a victory which looks
much more comfortable than it actually was (in fact Wolfsburg dominated
the game but just could not finish to save their lives) with a tap-in
from Sanneh's centre.

Assists: Krzynówek, Jarolim, Sanneh
Attendance: 23,600


MÖNCHENGLADBACH		3-1		HERTHA
Ulich 4						Marcelinho 33
Aidoo 57, 67

Czech playmaker Ivo Ulich returned Simunic's weak clearance with a
violent volley into the top-left corner to give Gladbach the early
lead. Who else but Marcelinho equalized with a close-range tap-in
after Preetz headed down Deisler's corner. But within 10 minutes in
the 2nd half Ghanaian teenager Lawrence Aidoo decided the game with
two beautiful goals, his 1st a diagonal run through the box to head
in Van Houdt's cross, his 2nd a left-footed scoop shot into the far
corner.

Assists: Preetz, Van Houdt, Van Lent
Attendance: 32,200


COTTBUS			2-0		FREIBURG
Miriuta 37 (Pen)
Helbig 68

After Topic had turned a legit claim for a penalty, ref Berg gave him a
consolation one for a love tap by Zeyer, Miriuta converted. Relegation
bound Sebastian Helbig (he will join Köln in the summer) scored the 2-0
midway through the second half against a very passive Freiburg defense
with a shot from the edge of the box.

Cottbus can pretty much stop worrying about relegation.

Assists: Topic, Schröter
Attendance: 18,120


STUTTGART			3-2		DORTMUND
Dundee 33					Wörns 52
Meißner 37					Koller 79
Ganea 64

Reject Dundee, who hadn't been any factor all season long (started
a total of 2, in words TWO, matches before this one), poked Stuttgart
into a shock lead after Seitz abused Dinosaur Reuter on the wing and
BVB reserve 'keeper Laux spilled his shot. Utility man Meißner smashed
in a very dry free kick to double the lead only 4 minutes later.

Sammer will have made his buys a good enema during half time because
7 minutes after the break Wörns pulled one back for Dortmund after
Ewerthon played some pool with Bordon, Ernst and the post. Ganea had
the right answer with a fantastic running drive from 25m which just
fit into the right pocket.

Koller helped himself to a birthday present (the big Czech turned 29)
when Bordon and Fernando Meira miscalculated Heinrich's cross and he
only had to pull the ball down and volley home. Still, too little, too
late for Dortmund who are now 4 points behind the leaders Leverkusen.

Assists: Seitz, Bordon, Hleb, Heinrich
Attendance: 33,000


1860 MÜNCHEN			4-2		St. PAULI
Weissenberger 44				Rahn 39
Max 64, 66, 76					Patschinski 55

Jentzsch played a simple ball to Cerny to initiate an attack, a horrible
first touch took him completely out of the game, all Rahn only had to do
was some cherry-picking. Weissenberger squeezed the equalizer over Pauli
'keeper Henzler from Šuker's through pass. The "Alpenknirps" got himself
sent off 8 minutes into the second half for a stupid fould on Held deep
in midfield after already being booked.

As if being down a man wasn't punishment enough for such stupidity,
St. Pauli added insult to injury when Patschinski nicely struck Zlatan
Bajramovic's centre just below the crossbar. In came Martin Max to back
up his reputation as minnow beater N°1 with a hattrick within twelve (!)
minutes, a nice left-footed strike after doing a little dancing with
Adamu, a poacher's goal following a corner and a fulminant strike from
the edge of the box.

St. Pauli only have themselves to blame for giving this one away. Losing
a game, regardless at home or away, after leading and being up a man is
simply not possible if you want to stay in the league.

Assists: Šuker, Bajramovic, Schroth
Red Card: Weissenberger 53 (1860 München)
Attendance: 18,000


KAISERSLAUTERN			2-4		LEVERKUSEN
Ramzy 45					Kirsten 1
Lokvenc 55					Neuville 16
						Ballack 77 (Pen)
						Berbatov 86

Kick-off: Ramelow punts the ball upfield, Strasser's clearance is nicely
volleyed into Kirsten's run by Schneider, "Der Schwatte" kills the ball
with his left and drills it past Koch with his right to set a new league
record for fastest goal ever (11.87 seconds)!

And if you thought this was great, you had not seen Bayer's sublime free
kick trick which lead to the 0-2: Bernd Schneider rolled the ball up for
Ballack but instead of unpacking his huge right-footed hammer, he played
back to Schneider who forwarded it to Neuville through a totally
surprised FCK defense and "Little Olli" finished with a nicely-taken
volley.

Ramzy pulled one back at the brink of half time with a shot from the
edge of the box. The huge Lokvenc, who has a claim to be the best Czech
attacker in the league, powerfully headed in the equalizer 10 minutes
after the break when Knavs headed Basler's free kick across goal to him.

Back came Bayer: Neo-international Thomas Brdaric beat the pathetic FCK
offside trap, 'keeper Koch came out of his goal but all he could do was
bring down the pacey winger, Ballack stepped up to the plate and fired
in a dry and well-stocked penalty against his former club. Ballack then
made sure of victory clobbering Ramzy on the wing and whipping in the
cross which Berbatov easily converted for the decisive 2-4.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have taken a huge step towards a Championship which
will have, even though they are first and foremost a great team, Michael
Ballack's name on it. Ballack = League MVP.

Assists: Schneider (x2), Malz, Knavs, Brdaric, Ballack
Red Card: Placente 89 (Leverkusen)
Attendance: 39,578


Ciao,

Tim

tim@milanmania.com
http://milanmania.com
http://soccer-europe.com