Mkhitaryan prevails on Matchday 20
Munich - Henrikh Mkhitaryan eclipsed all of Borussia Dortmund's injury worries to earn Jürgen Klopp's side victory and him the vote as Player of the Week for Matchday 20.
Icing on the cake
dominated the vote for bundesliga.com's Player of the Week, taking a mesmerising 71 per cent of the votes. In second place was Hertha Berlin's , who managed nine per cent, only narrowly beating the other four players making up the remaining 20 per cent between them. It was an overwhelming victory for the Armenian midfielder who scored his first goals in nearly six months.
Playing outstandingly in the 5-1 win, Mkhitaryan scored two wonderful goals past Bremen's goalkeeper Raphael Wolf. The first of which - a drilled effort after a fine dribble across the edge of the penalty area - was followed by the goal which made it 4-0 with a quick precise shot past the keeper after a beautiful backheel pass from Marco Reus. Coach Jürgen Klopp enthused: “Miki didn’t just score two goals, he had a sensational game all-round.”
Dortmund had to win to stay close to Bayer 04 Leverkusen after they won 1-0 the day before against Borussia Mönchengladbach, giving them a seven-point cushion. With FC Schalke 04 winning 2-0 against Hannover 96 on Sunday, die Schwarz-Gelben are still only two points ahead of their local rivals. Mkhitaryan knows that he will have to perform this well more often, "I’m still working towards the stage where I can turn in a shift like that regularly," said the self-critical 25-year-old.
Important goals
Ramos scored the last two goals in Hertha's 3-0 stroll against Hamburger SV on Matchday 20, pushing the Old Lady to within just two points of the UEFA Europa League spots. Another player who had an outstanding performance was FC Bayern's Mario Mandzukic (six per cent) who, with a lot of balance and body control, scored the first and provided the assist for the second in a 2-0 triumph against Bavarian derby rivals 1. FC Nürnberg.
Leverkusen's Heung Min Son (five per cent) broke the deadlock in Friday's opener, scoring the all-important 1-0 with a long-ranged effort to beat their fellow UEFA Champions League hopefuls. Andre Hahn only took five per cent of the votes, despite scoring two of Augsburg's goals in a record 4-1 away win at VfB Stuttgart. Another player who had a tremendous day was Schalke's Jefferson Farfan (four per cent), who scored the first of two goals against Hannover 96.
Relive Mkhitaryan's performace in the 5-1 defeat of Werder Bremen, courtesy of the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel:
