Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten made amends for his dismissal at Bordeaux in midweek by heading a late winner for Bayern Munich in a 2-1 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
The centerback saw red in France last Wednesday in the 2-1 defeat to Bordeaux in the Champions League, but he came off the bench to score with a crucial 88th-minute header as the German giants came from behind.
“We created several good chances against opponents who were very defensively minded,” Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said, with his side now four points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. “We couldn’t convert them into goals and Frankfurt scored through the first possibility. I decided to bring on [Arjen] Robben and [Mario] Gomez, and switched van Buyten for Luca Toni. I was very happy with the changes and in just eight days we have now halved the gap behind Leverkusen.”
Eintracht took the lead at Bayern’s Allianz Arena when midfielder Alexander Meier timed his run through Munich’s offside trap to perfection and latched onto a pass from Patrick Ochs on 60 minutes, before firing home.
Bayern welcomed back play-maker Robben after three weeks out with a knee injury and the Dutchman marked his return with the equalizer.
After Gomez won an aerial battle against Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, Robben pounced on the loose ball and slotted home on 70 minutes, before van Buyten’s priceless goal that put Bayern in fifth place.
Hoffenheim moved up to sixth after enjoying an impressive 3-0 win at home to Nuremberg when defender Christian Eichner slotted home a dream goal from 30m out, before striker Vedad Ibisevic hit their second after 38 minutes. Then 19-year-old Argentine striker Franco Zuculini, playing only his third Bundesliga game, unleashed a fierce shot from 20m out to add Hoffehneim’s third.
VfB Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel may have been given a vote of confidence by his board last week, but his position looks increasingly precarious after his side lost 1-0 at Hannover.
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Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was pulled out of position by Dutch midfielder Arnold Jan Bruggink, allowing Ivory Coast striker Didier Ya Konan a simple tap-in on 30 minutes.
Stuttgart hit the woodwork twice, but could not breach the Hannover defense as they lost their fourth straight game.
Mainz moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win at Freiburg, while Cologne were held 0-0 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
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