Bundesliga Matchday 15 roundup
Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen pick up bigs wins, while Gladbach and Schalke share the spoils. All you need to know from Matchday 15.
Snow day
Staff at Hannover's HDI Arena clear the mounting snow during Hannover's 2-0 win over Hoffenheim. Unlike in Cologne, where kick off was delayed by 30 minutes, the game was able to get underway on time but the conditions were treacherous. But that didn't affect Hannover, who got another win under their belts courtesy of second half goals by Niclas Fuellkrug and Martin Harnik.
Comeback kings
The comeback starts here. Nils Petersen's thunderous volley offered Freiburg little more than a glimmer of hope at 3-1, but it proved the catalyst to the comeback of the season. Cologne keeper Timo Horn was helpless as the ball rifled in at his near post and into the roof of the net, causing a snowstorm in his goal. Cologne would go on to concede three more and lose 4-3 after leading 3-0.
Heated Herrlich
Bayer Leverkusen coach Heiko Herrlich had to watch the final minutes of his side's impressive win at Stuttgart from the back of the technical area. He was sent from the touchline after losing his cool, but his team kept theirs as a goal in each half gave them a big away win to move them, at least temporarily, into the top four. Leverkusen remain unbeaten in the league since September.
Bremen down Dortmund
Goals from Maximilian Eggestein and Theodor Gebre Selassie (r.) saw Werder Bremen extend Borussia Dortmund's winless streak to nine games in all competitions. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 12th goal of the season levelled the scores momentarily, but it wasn't enough to prevent BVB from slipping out of the top six in the Bundesliga.
Vidal strikes again
Arturo Vidal has found his goalscoring boots in recent weeks as his goal against Eintracht Frankfurt saw Bayern move eight points clear of Leipzig in second place. The Chilean has now scored in each of his last four Bundesliga outings, which meant that few fans even mentioned Robert Lewandowski being benched for the trip to Frankfurt.
Leipzig lapses prove costly
Leipzig are still unbeaten this season after European encounters (four wins, two draws), but will have been disappointed to twice throw the lead away in a 2-2 draw with Mainz. The result sees them slip further adrift of Bayern at the top, while ensuring Mainz kept their heads above water in the relegation battle.
A forgettable stalemate
For the second weekend running Hamburg were involved in a goalless draw, but unlike the stalemate in Freiburg last Friday, it was Hamburg who could bemoan the result against Wolfsburg, who had just two shots on goal in the entire game. The Red Shorts peppered Koen Casteels' goal, but failed to find a breakthrough and remain precariously positioned above the drop zone.
Vestergaard saves Schalke?
Jannik Vestergaard's own goal just past the hour mark cancelled out Christoph Kramer's header and saw Schalke snatch a point off of Gladbach on foreign soil to close out the play on Saturday. The point wasn't enough for either side to climb above Leipzig, but both remain in the top four as a result.
Cauiby celebrates
Augsburg forward Caiuby celebrates his 74th minute strike which broke the deadlock in a dire game against Hertha Berlin. It looked like the matchwinner and enough to send Augsburg fourth, but the hosts let the lead slip in the 91st minute. Augsburg will have another chance to crack the top four when they travel to third-placed Schalke on Wednesday.