SUPER BORUSSIA TAKES OVER THE TOP OF THE TABLE
Borussia Dortmund is the team of the moment so far, the yellow-black's
have gotten off to a perfect start with 3 games, 3 wins and 8-0 goals.
Still coach Matthias Sammer does not join the fanatic media praise and
tries to keep his boys on the ground.
The other highlight match of the weekend saw Bayer Leverkusen once
again throwing away a lead against their main rivals of past seasons,
Bayern. It does not matter if the coach of Leverkusen is Daum, Völler,
Vogts or Toppmöller, the problem remains the same: Bayer cannot win
the big matches.
Other events around the republic saw young German playmaker Sebastian
Deisler taking matters into his own hands (or rather feet) and pre-
venting his side, Hertha BSC, from a complete false start into the
season. Also Cottbus continues to be among the top teams in the table
placing an astonishing 4th (before pre-season favourites Bayern, HSV
and Hertha -- I know it's only Round 3 but still...) after another
1-0 home victory against newly promoted Nürnberg.
Last but not least Kaiserslautern keeps their perfect starting record
with their third straight win. As a reminder: When Brehme took over as
coach last year the FCK won 4 strait only to later crash down from 3rd
place to 8th by losing 6 out of their final 8 and conceding 4 or more
goals 4x in a row...
12 AUGUST 2001
ST. PAULI 0-1 ROSTOCK
Beierle 20
Pitch was ultra-heavy after it started raining in the early afternoon.
Hansa took it to Pauli with their own weapons: Aggressive pressing and
hard struggle. It paid off when new signing Markus Beierle headed in
Rydlewicz' excellent cross 20 minutes into the game. Pauli was unlucky,
struck the woodwork 3x through Rath (2x free kick) and Argentine Cenci
(volley, from Rath's cross). Them losing that game was probably not
that bad after all as Hertha's hooligans took apart the destrict after
dropping points there and Hansa's hools are same if not worse since
they have a long-standing "friendship" with the fans of St. Pauli...
Assist : Rydlewicz
Attendance : 19,600 (sold out)
MÖNCHENGLADBACH 0-0 SCHALKE
Drab game. Schalke still looked shaky after their drubbing at the hands
of Bayern last week, especially the defense, last seasons' showpiece,
was totally muddleheaded. Brasilian/German Marcello Pletsch had last
seasons' topscorer Ebbe Sand firmly under control and Marcel Witeczek
shut down Asamoah on the wing. Gladbach was on the verge on taking the
lead after the lively "Kü" Marco Küntzel came on for Korzynietz, Schalke
also had some decent chances through Möller (volley) and Böhme (free
kick).
Attendance: 34,500 (sold out)
11 AUGUST 2001
1860 MÜNCHEN 1-1 HAMBURG
Agostino 67 Hoogma 6
Pieckenhagen made a super save from Dheedene's close-range header
only seconds into the game. Hoogma won the ball back in defense,
literally walked into 1860's half, played a one-two with Mahdavikia,
then another one with Meijer and suddenly was all alone in front
of goal, one round around Jentzsch and 0-1 was the score.
"Kangaroo" Paul Agostino scored 1860's first goal of the 2001-2002
Bundesliga season with a good header from Borimirov's cross.
Schroth could have even won the game for the Löwen but his sliding
attempt from another Borimirov shot/pass struck the post.
Assists : Meijer, Borimirov
Attendance : 25,500
STUTTGART 0-0 BREMEN
Werder played ultra-defensively with 5 defensive players and only
one forward (Aílton) but still made much more music up front than
the toothless VfB which had to thank their 'keeper Hildebrand and
strong defender Bordon for not falling behind in the first half.
After the break Stuttgart had the optical preponderance but again
a Werderaner had the best chance, workhorse Fabian Ernst had his
shot across goal come back off the post. Bleak prospects are ahead
for the Swabians...
Attendance : 20,000
COTTBUS 1-0 NÜRNBERG
Kobylanski 19
Polish winger Andrzej Kobylanski scored the lone goal of the afternoon
with a wicked left-footed free kick from the right wing which left FCN
'keeper Kampa stretching himself to all extremes but not getting to
the ball which drove into the top-left corner. The goalscorer admitted
in an interview after the game that his original intention was to cross
the ball. :) Brasilian defender Vragel Da Silva headed a Kobylanski
corner against the crossbar. Nikl also struck the alu for the Club with
a distance shot in the 45th minute. Piplica made a great double save
against Nikl & Michalke. Nürnberg should have had around 60% possession
but lacked some serious drive into the box. Cottbus once again fielded
11 foreigners.
Assist : Topic
Attendance: 15,702
FREIBURG 1-3 HERTHA
Iashvili 88 Deisler 11 (Pen),
42
Preetz 69
Alex Alves dived over Diarra's outstretched leg, Deisler dispatched
the penalty. With Marcelinho on friendly international tour with
Brasil "Basti Fantasti" ruled the roost in midfield by himself and
he did it with great efficiency: Deisler won the ball off Willi on
the edge of the box and at full pace unleashed a cracking left-footed
shot into the top of the net. Great goal! Preetz continued his long
tradition of scoring garbage goals with a routine tap-in after good
work from, again, Deisler and Goor. Simunic was sent off for holding
Iashvili after already being booked. The Georgian forward also scored
the consolation from Sellimi's accurate pass.
Assists : Alex Alves, Goor, Sellimi
Red Card : Simunic 51 (Hertha)
Attendance : 22,000
DORTMUND 4-0 WOLFSBURG
Amoroso 28
Ricken 33
Koller 41
Rosický 84
Amoroso raced onto Rosický's phenomenal through pass, dribbled the
'keeper and tapped into an empty net. World Class goal, his 4th in
only 3 matches! Stefano Tanzi (Parma president) must have a bloody
good time right now for deciding to sell him (that cheaply). :->
Ricken increased the lead 5 minutes later with a powerful finish
from Reuter's (!) cross. Koller wrapped things up with a huge free
kick from almost 30m shortly before the break and his compatriot
Rosický made it um, dois, trêis, quatro with a sweet little lob
over the 'keeper for his long-awaited first goal in yellow&black.
Assists : Rosický (x2), Reuter (x2)
Attendance : 66,000
LEVERKUSEN 1-1 BAYERN MÜNCHEN
Kirsten 69 Élber 80
Both Kovac Bros. returned to the club they made themselves a name in,
this time in Bayern colors (they had below average to poor games).
Robert Kovac was also in the spotlight on the first goal: Tiny Turk
Bastürk flicked a header into the box, Neuville sprung at it, breezed
past Kovac, faked Kahn into going down, centred and Kirsten was there
to slam it home, 1-0 Bayer. But Bayern would not be Bayern if they
didn't have an answer: Bayer 'keeper Butt could only punch Pizarro's
header down the middle, Sagnol headed the shit back in and Élber
splashed between Lúcio and Placente to nab the 1-1 equalizer with a
beautiful diving header. Rough game overall, 8 yellow cards and 58
fouls (season record so far).
Assists : Neuville, Sagnol
Attendance : 22,500 (sold out)
KAISERSLAUTERN 2-1 KÖLN
Lokvenc 27, 37 Springer 47
Lincoln ran onto a quickly taken throw-in, walked the touchline and
pulled the ball back for Lokvenc who only had to put his foot against
it. The huge (1,96m) Czech forward made it 2-0 only 10 minutes later
when he used his massive body to press the physically not less
impressive Moses Sichone into the ground before heading in Basler's
corner. Springer ideally pulled one back right after the break with
a running header from Baranek's cross and 'Lautern had the excellent
Knavs at the back, plenty of luck and a lack of firepower on Köln's
side to thank that it stayed that way.
Assists : Lincoln, Basler, Baranek
Attendance : 39,603
Tim
tim@milanmania.com
http://milanmania.com
http://soccer-europe.com
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