Bundesliga Matchday 12 in pictures
Bayern Munich return to winning ways and stay three points behind surprise leaders Leipzig. Dortmund fall at Frankfurt and slip to seventh, Hertha go third and strugglers Hamburg and Bremen draw the North German derby.
Busy afternoon
Eric Choupo-Moting was in the thick of the action as Schalke came from a goal down to beat visiting Darmstadt. The Cameroon international had a penalty saved but later scored to make it 2-1 to the home side. Schalke went on to win 3-1 and their early-season wobble appears to be over.
The Ibisevic show
Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic also had an eventful day at the office. The Bosnian netted both the Berlin side's goals in a 2-1 comeback success against Mainz, including his 100th in the Bundesliga, before earning a second yellow card. He is only the sixth non-German to achieve the feat.
All the answers
16 and 66 were Frankfurt’s lucky numbers against Dortmund. Their opening goal came 16 seconds into the second half and their winner 66 seconds after Dortmund’s equalizer. Haris Seferovic with the crucial strike to put the home side third.
Hummels secures labored win
Watched by freshly re-elected president Uli Hoeness, Bayern rode their luck to secure a 2-1 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen. Mats Hummels nodded the winner at a second-half corner before the referee failed to notice a late Javi Martinez handball that should have resulted in a Leverkusen penalty.
Comedy of Errors
There were four goals in the North German derby between Hamburg and Werder Bremen but they had more to do with defensive weakness than attacking verve. Defenders were caught ball watching as the goals flew in. The final score was 2-2, with neither of the struggling pair content with a mere point.
Still unbeaten
Mönchengladbach became the latest team to fail to beat Hoffenheim, the only undefeated side apart from surprise leaders Leipzig. It looked good for the Foals when Mahmoud Dahoud put them ahead but Hoffenhim leveled through Nadiem Amiri, their 12th match unbeaten.
Bad luck and good fortune
A missed penalty, shots off the post and crossbar and a fortunate deflected equalizer from Wolfsburg’s Daniel Caligiuri. Lady Luck was definitely not smiling on Ingolstadt in the 1-1 draw at home to the Wolves. The visitors did not deserve a point while Ingolstadt still have only one victory this term.
Turgid stalemate
Cologne came up against a defensive Augsburg side and both sides lacked inspiration in a turgid affair. The home side’s normally prolific striker Anthony Modeste failed to add to his 12 goals this season and the 0-0 stalemate left Cologne in fifth and Augsburg 12th.
Leading the way
Leipzig clearly feel comfortable at the top of the Bundesliga. They came away from Freiburg on Friday night with a 4-1 success that put them six points clear of champions Bayern Munich overnight. Naby Keita’s long-range effort was the pick of Leipzig’s goals as they overwhelmed their mid-table opponents.