Bundesliga Matchday 23: The one where Dortmund got their groove back

Recovered title challenges, high flying momentum, and relegation woes. All this and more in the 23rd matchday of the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund had been hemoraging points for weeks, but a top end tilt with Leverkusen solved recent woes as BVB fought for a 3-2 victory over Bayer.

Dortmund pushed hard early, but they were open to Leverkusen on the counter attack. BVB punctured the smarting Bayer defense as Dan-Axel Zagadou scored the opener. Leverkusen countered to show they were not going lightly as Kevin Volland equalized. But no less than 60 seconds later, the lead was restored as English phenom Jadon Sancho scored the go ahead goal. A Mario Gotze second half goal extended the lead before Leverkusen made it closer with a late goal from Jonathan Tah.

SC Freiburg usually fights off relegation all season long and do not get the credit they deserve considering they are run on shoestrings in comparison to other Bundesliga clubs. But when you put away five goals in a 5-1 victory over relegation threatened FC Augsburg, it’s a moment to enjoy.

Freiburg are making their home form count this campaign counting for 14 points and some rather entertaining high-scoring matches. Three goals in the first half before a response from the visitors meant the match was well out of hand by the second half when they added two more. For Augsburg, this is a setback as two points separate them from the relegation playoff and four from automatic relegation. Add in a visit from BVB, while a big relegation six-pointer takes place next week, and the Bavarian club could be in the worst of trouble.

Wolfsburg was labeled as a team that after finishing 16th two seasons running would not have much say who goes where in the Bundesliga. So it was a surprise that they visited Borussia Monchengladbach and came away with a 3-0 win.

The Wolves now find themselves in 5th in the table and a mere five points off the Foals in third. If the Volkswagen funded club reaches Europe, expect massive spending in the summer on reinforcements. Two goals from Admir Mehmedi in the second half and a goal from Yannik Gerhart in the first meant the Foals never had a chance as they now ready for a visit from Bayern next week.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga:

Bayern Munich had a difficult time again with Hertha Berlin. A goal from Javi Martinez was the difference in keeping pace with Dortmund.

Eintracht Frankfurt progressed in the Europa League on Thursday and carried over the momentum as they convincingly defeated relegation-threatened Hannover 96 3-0.

Werder Bremen came from behind via a Davy Klassen goal as the first half ended to get the 1-1 draw with Stuttgart. VfB will consider this a missed opportunity to pull level with Augsburg and same for Bremen who are now five points away from sixth in the league and initial European qualification.

Mainz gave insult to injury for Schalke who lost midweek in Europe as they didn’t blink in putting three goals past the Royal Blues 3-0 and signaling the end of the Christian Heidel era at the club.

Fortuna Dusseldorf fans circled this one as must win against Nurnberg if they wished to stay up and in comeback fashion they did 2-1 over the Franconian club to go 12th in the table.

RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim played to a 1-1 draw which benefitted neither team as Leipzig remain fourth and four points clear of 5th-place Wolfsburg while Hoffenheim remain three points adrift of 6th-place Frankfurt.

Prost Bundesliga Player of the Week:  Admir Mehmedi of Wolfsburg came off the bench and scored twice to put the game on ice over Gladbach and heating up the Wolves’ Euro prospects.