VfL Bochum scored three goals in 12 minutes to come back from 3-0 down at halftime and force a draw against Borussia Moenchengladbach in their opening Bundesliga match of the season on Sunday.
Gladbach’s new Venezuelan signing Juan Arango slotted home after combining well with Raul Bobadilla and striker Roberto Colautti in the 19th minute.
The visitors seemed to be cruising to victory when Colautti doubled their lead seven minutes later and defender Roel Brouwers headed in from close range five minutes before the break.
PHOTO: EPA
Bochum battled back in the second half, however, scoring twice in just 48 seconds through Mimoun Azaouagh’s identical long-range efforts shortly after the restart.
Borussia were reduced to 10 men when Bonfim Dante fouled a charging Stanislav Sestak on the hour and three minutes later, Sestak headed in the equalizer to complete the comeback.
“This was a curious match,” Borussia coach Michael Frontzeck said. “Sometimes these things happen in football. We missed the chance to make it 4-0 and then conceded three goals. We just have to live with the one point we got.”
PHOTO: AFP
Hamburg were lucky to get away with a 1-1 draw in their season opener against newcomers Freiburg who were the more attractive side.
New Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia’s team failed to impress despite grabbing an early goal through Jonathan Pitroipa in the third minute.
Promoted Freiburg were the dominant side, missing several good scoring opportunities.
They scored the deserved equalizer in the 65th minute when Cameroon’s Mohamadou Idrissou crossed from the left for Tommy Bechmann, who lifted the ball over keeper Frank Rost.
The hosts still rued their missed chances.
“What I saw was a better Freiburg team. We had many scoring chances,” Freiburg coach Robin Dutt said. “If you are so superior against a big team such as Hamburg, then you should not leave two points behind.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB