GOALMANIA's conclusion and a Rob-bery in Munich: The Matchday 28 round-up!
The GOALMANIA campaign came to a thrilling conclusion, with Matchday 28 living up to the two previous chapters of what proved to be 10 of the most gripping days of Bundesliga action in the 2016/17 campaign.
Robert Lewandowski's brace not only helped Bayern Munich clinch a stunning 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker, but also saw him reclaim top spot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga's goalscoring charts!
Anthony Modeste kept in touch with his rivals, but Borussia Mönchengladbach had the last laugh by edging Cologne out in a thrilling Rhein Derby. Elsewhere, there were last-minute winners, dramatic comebacks and goalscoring heroics! Here's the round-up from Matchday 28...
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Bayern Munich 4-1 Borussia Dortmund
Two goals in the opening 10 minutes saw the Bundesliga leaders race clear of Dortmund before Die Schwarzgelben knew what had hit them. Lewandowski's brace moved the Pole a goal clear of Auba in the goalscorers' race, but it was really a case of night-time Rob-bery at the Allianz Arena as the dynamic duo of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery rolled back the years to produce performances that will haunt BVB's backline for years to come. Bayern are edging ever close to fifth straight Bundesliga title!
Watch: Xabi Alonso hails a 'special' performance.
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Werder Bremen
Goal drought? What goal drought? After going four games without finding the back of the net, Frankfurt's dry spell was consigned to history, but only after a they had gone into the break 2-0 down. Whatever Niko Kovac said at half-time certainly worked as the Eagles clawed a point out of a perilous position, with Marco Fabian putting a missed penalty on Matchday 26 behind him with a confident equaliser from the spot.
Watch: Marco Fabian says 'I was confident I would score'
Schalke 4-1 Wolfsburg
Talk about an unhappy hunting ground – Wolfsburg have now lost seven in a row at the VELTINS Arena. They produced 18 attempts on goal in their latest visit, but only Mario Gomez’s consolation penalty gave Schalke any cause for regret. By then the Royal Blues were out of sight, thanks to another inspired performance from winter signing Guido Burgstaller, who has scored six goals in 11 Bundesliga appearances since making the step up from the Bundesliga 2 in the winter. Impressive!
Cologne 2-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Real edge-of-your-seat, don’t-take-your-eyes-off-this-one stuff at the RheinEnergieSTADION, where Anthony Modeste twice helped his side pull a goal back after falling behind courtesy of his 23rd goal of the season and a tidy assist. But it was the day of the Foal, not the Billy Goat, as 'Captain Fantastic' Lars Stindl landed the knockout blow late on to ensure that Gladbach not only took a share of the local bragging rights, but more important closed the gap on the neighbourly rivals to a single point in the standings.
Freiburg 1-0 Mainz
The sight of Nils Petersen stripping off his tracksuit on the sidelines and getting ready to enter a fray is one to strike fear into the hearts of Freiburg’s opponents. The Olympic silver medalist's winning effort against Mainz was his 18th off the bench in the Bundesliga, which ties with record holder Alexander Zickler. Christian Streich's side have crossed the magic 40-point mark, but are proving it's when you score not how many that counts. After all, how often do you see a side sitting in the top six with a -11 goal difference!
RB Leipzig 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Leipzig put on a late, late show that James Corden would be proud of as they saw off Die Werkself. Second-half substitute Yussuf Poulsen grabbed the winner with virtually the last touch of the game, in the 93rd minute, but it was Emil Forsberg who once again underlined his credentials as the master of the art of assisting. His pass to Poulsen was the14th time he's teed-up a team mate this season, making him not just the leading assist maker in the Bundesliga, but the best in Europe too!
Hamburg 2-1 Hoffenheim
Hamburg’s formidable home form is showing no signs of abating, and it may well maintain their record as the only ever-presents in the history of the Bundesliga. The Red Shorts' handed Hoffenheim only their third defeat of the season, which interestingly have all come away from home courtesy of a 2-1 scoreline! Even the free-scoring Andrej Kramaric, who scored from the spot to notch up his fourth goal since GOALMANIA started, could not prevent HSV from moving four points clear of the bottom three.
Hertha Berlin 2-0 Augsburg
The capital city side reclaimed fifth place after a comfortable win over out-of-form Augsburg, who had Marwin Hitz to thank that the defeat wasn’t by a greater margin. Hertha let a top-six finish slip through their fingers last season, but once again find themselves in a position where it is theirs to lose. Augsburg, meanwhile, have now lost three consecutive games for the first time in over three and a half years. Their prospects are looking increasingy bleak in the battle for survival.
Watch: Salomon Kalou on Hertha's European aims
Ingolstadt 3-2 Darmstadt
There was a fitting end to GOALMANIA in Ingolstadt as two of the league’s lowest scoring sides played out a five-goal thriller in which both sides had the lead at one point or another. However, it was Die Schanzer – thanks to a quick-fire double in the second half – that walked away with three precious points, becoming only the second team alongside Leipzig to win all three games during GOALMANIA! With games against Wolfsburg and Bremen to follow, a great escape is not off the cards.