retired_blondie_524

Tuesday 30th August 2005

With the transfer window about to close I manage to sign an experienced centre back as cover. 33-year old Dutchman Mitchell signs from Portuguese club Maritimo for £500K. He's not the fastest but he's a very good header of the ball, is a hard worker and shows a great deal of concentration and anticipation to allow him to get the jump on his opponents. Over his career which includes PSV, Motherwell and Utrecht he has 375 appearances with 47 goals.

Thursday 1st September 2005

Leverkusen's Andriy Voronin wins the Bundesliga player of the month with Carston Ramelow of Leverkusen second and our Christian Wörns in third place.
A fax from UEFA arrives asking us to register 25 players for the UEFA Cup first round. By return I fax them our list:
Keepers B. Meier, R. Weidenfeller, D. Gentenaar Defense C. Wörns, Mitchell, C. Metzelder, P. Degen, Dédé, M. Heitmeier Midfielders S. Kehl, M. Flamini, JP. De Jong, L. Ricken, S. Gambino, E. Smolarek, D. Odonkor, D. Buckley, T. Rosicky Strikers J. Koller, S. Cabañas, F. Ciullo.
Unfortunately I can't include Jensen as he's played for Halmsted in the UEFA Cup already this season.

The other good news I had today was that Dédé has completed his seven years residency and has become a German passport holder. That frees up a Non-EU spot on the squad.

Saturday 3rd September 2005

Salvatore Gambino is capped by the Italian U21's for the first time in their 1-0 defeat against Scotland U21's.
In the senior Internationals, Wörns came on as a substitute for his 66th German cap, Koller scores on his 65th appearance for the Czech Republic while Tomas Rosicky won his 50th cap in the same match. Smolarek won his 6th Polish cap and Degen got his 5th Swiss cap.

Wednesday 7th September 2005

David Odonkor turned out another sparkling performance for the German U21's in their 4-0 win over South Africa.
Jan Koller scored four goals in the Czech Republic's 6-0 win over Armenia.

Saturday 10th September 2005

Werder Bremen v BVB Dortmund
Bundesliga

We head north again to play Werder Bremen who have drawn two out of their first three league games this season but are looking forward to participating in this season's Champions League. The international break has allowed Meier to recover from his sprained wrist. Koller's international performances have lead to him partnering Cabañas up front while Buckley's fine form has given him a start at AMC while Ciullo and Rosicky drop to the bench
It wasn't a great first half but it was fairly even with unfortunately few chances on either side.
Dortmund stepped up a gear in the second half and took control, attacks from the home side were getting few and far between but BVB hadn't made much use of their dominance either as the half wore on. With 20 minutes left we finally broke through, Koller flicked the ball on to substitute Smolarek whose fizzing ball into the area allowed Ciullo to just get ahead of two defenders and poke it past the advancing keeper. Bremen were a spent force and five minutes later BVB made sure of the points, Degen's long ball into the corner of the six yard box has flicked up and over the keeper by Koller.
Bremen 0-2 Dortmund
Bremen scorers: none
Dortmund scorers: Ciullo 70, Koller 75
Att: 42,992

Leverkusen won but we still took top spot on goal difference. Bayern are starting to click as they wrapped up their second win of the season at Stuttgart with a goal just after the break. Relegation battlers Mainz equalised against Nürnburg to grab their third draw in four games.

Results:

Hannover 0-1 Leverkusen
Köln 0-1 Bielefeld
Mainz 1-1 Nürnberg
Schalke 2-0 Hertha BSC
Wolfsburg 3-0 Frankfurt

Sunday 11th September 2005

In the TV games a 72nd minute strike by Lavric gave Duisburg a 1-0 win at HSV while a goal in each half was enough to seal a 2-0 win for M'Gladbach at Kaiserslautern.

retired_blondie_524

The Bundesliga Table on September 11th
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | DORTMUND | | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Leverkusen | | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Schalke | | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Wolfsburg | | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | FC Bayern | | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Gladbach | | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Duisburg | | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Köln | | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Werder Bremen | | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Nürnberg | | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Stuttgart | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Hertha BSC | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Frankfurt | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Kaiserslautern | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Mainz | | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Bielefeld | | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | HSV | | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | -6 | 1 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Hannover | | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_blondie_524

Thursday 15th September 2005

BVB Dortmund v AO Skoda Xanthi
UEFA Cup 1st Round, 1st keg

Now that the new signings are finally eligible to play the dressing room is buzzing. The team chosen is Meier, Dédé, Wörns, Metzelder, Degen, Kehl, Odonkor, Ricken, Buckley, Cabañas and Koller with Weidenfeller, Heitmeier, Mitchell, Rosicky, Smolarek, Gambino and Ciullo on the bench.
For half an hour the two sides shadow boxed with no real penetration until BVB got the breakthrough. Dédé's free kick sent Koller away down the wing and his curling cross was met by an unmarked Buckley who headed home. Dortmund were starting to take control and were rewarded with a second goal before half-time. Kehl's long ball over the defense reached Cabañas who as he advanced caught the keeper in two minds whether to come out or not. Cabañas made up his mind for him as his sublime chip hit the back of the net.
The Greeks suffered a terrible blow five minutes into the second half when midfielder Baykara picked up his second yellow card. Six minutes later Sikov just beat Buckley to Dédé's sharp cross, unfortunately all he could do was guide it into his own net. The Greeks were wilting under the assault now and collapsed when midfielder Luciano became the second Xanthi player to be dismissed for receiving two yellow cards on 70 minutes. I had sent Ciullo and Gambino on for Odonkor and Ricken just after the hour and both took advantage of 9-men Xanthi. On 74 minutes Dédé's corner was just beaten out from under the crossbar but only as far as Salvatore Gambino who drove it low through the crowd into the net. Five minutes later Sikov completed a miserable day when he upended Buckley in the area and Ciullo stroked the penalty into the left corner of the net. Dortmund were camped in the Greek half now and three minutes from time Ciullo's cross was coraled by Gambino who side-stepped two defenders and slotted BVB's sixth goal home.
Dortmund 6-0 Xanthi
Dortmund scorers: Buckley 28, Cabañas 44, Sikov OG 56, Gambino 74, 87, Ciullo 79 pen
Xanthi scorers: none
Att: 60,244

Saturday 17th September 2005

Wolfsburg scored early in the second half to secure the win that took them top of the Bundesliga while Schweinsteiger's 23rd minute effort lifted FC Bayern to second.

Results:

Bielefeld 4-0 Duisburg
Bayern 1-0 Schalke
M'Gladbach 0-1 Wolfsburg
Hannover 1-1 Hamburg
Nürnberg 2-1 Kaiserslautern.

Sunday 18th September 2005

In the only Bundesliga game played today Werder Bremen went to Leverkusen and hammered them 4-1.

Tuesday 20th September 2005

Schalke 04 v BVB Dortmund
DFB-Pokal 2nd Round

Mitchell would have got a start but he's picked up a strained wrist but I still manage to select a few reserves to give them match fitness. Weidenfeller replaced Meier, Jensen came in for Degen, Ciullo replaced Ricken and De Jong replaced Kehl.
After a fairly even first half hour BVB made the breakthrough, Koller blasting a 20-yard free kick into the roof of the net. Schalke came on strong trying to get the equaliser and managed to grab it just before the break, Søren Larsen's 20-yard scorcher was only parried by Weidenfeller and Kevin Kuranyi neatly slotted in the rebound.
Schalke put themselves behind the eight ball on the hour when Dario Rodriguez upended Ciullo just outside the area and picked up his second yellow card. BVB still found it difficult to make the advantage tell, Ciullo set Cabañas up with an empty net but he couldn't get the ball out from under his feet and the defense recovered and the best change was wasted. BVB looked to have settled it in the final minute when substitute Rosicky drifted a corner in to the near post and Wörns arrived to power home his first goal of the season. Schalke weren't done yet and a minute into injury time Ebbe Sand climbed above Wörns to head home but the referee ruled it out for climbing. With the Dortmund players high-fiving they lost their concentration and Kuranyi caught them on a breakaway to tie the match three minutes into injury time.
Extra time was drifting away and both teams were looking at penalties when Altintop's free kick on the half way line caught the defense looking and Kuranyi burst through to seal his hat-trick and the cup-tie.
Schalke 3-2 Dortmund (aet)
Schalke scorers: Kuranyi 45, 93, 114
Dortmund scorers: Koller 32, Wörns 89
Att: 61,498

Hertha Berlin put six past Kiel away and Bayern needed extra time to beat Aue 2-0 while three Bundesliga sides went out to lower division opposition. Kaiserslautern lost at Bochum II, Köln lost at Mainz II while Rostock II disposed of Mainz.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 24th September 2005

1.FC Kaiserslautern v BVB Dortmund
Bundesliga

Kaiserslautern have lost three out of their first five Bundesliga matches and we travel to the south hoping to extend that. Meier returns in goal, Degen to right back and Kehl to DMC. Ciullo replaced Buckley at AMC, he drops to the bench.
This was a humiliation, the whole team must have had theirminds on the upcoming European game or something. Whatever it was BVB wasn't even second best, they were third best by a long way. Just after the half-hour BVB were four down and out of it.
Three minutes after halftime BVB gave away their second penalty but Meier actually saved this one. Not that it mattered as the home side ran in another three goals during the half. Four shots to fourteen is not really acceptable especially when you've had 52% of the play, there was too many poor mistakes down to a simple lack of concentration.
Kaiserslautern 6-0 Dortmund
1FC scorers: Blank 12 pen, Altintop 20, 29, 79, Englehardt 33, Jancker 60
BVB scorers: none
Att: 37,563

Bayern fired their way to top spot with a four goal away win. Our defeat drops us all the way to 6th but we have a game in hand on most of the sides above us, it also means that Bayern are the only unbeaten side in Bundesliga now.

Results:

Duisburg 1-3 Hertha BSC
Hamburg 2-1 Bielefeld
Köln 2-4 Bayern M
Mainz 0-2 Leverkusen
Schalke 4-0 Frankfurt
W. Bremen 2-0 Hannover

Sunday 25th September 2005

In today's two TV games Wolfsburg ground out a home 0-0 draw with Nürnberg to move up to third while Mõnchengladbach at Stuttgart had a thrilling finish. After Gladbach were reduced to ten men in the 11th minute they were looking to have pinched a 0-0 draw with only 10 minutes left but their luck ran out and Stuttgart ran out 3-1 winners.

AO Skoda Xanthi v BVB Dortmund
UEFA Cup 1st Round, 2nd leg

Even we us leading 6-0 this has been chosen for live TV coverage so I tell the players I don't want any repeat of Saturday's humiliation. Buckley replaced Ciullo in the only change to the starting XI, I want them to go out there and get it out of their systems.
The Greeks weren't showing much ambition even before BVB hit a 16th minute goal, a superb turn and shot by Cabañas in the area. After that it was really just a case of packing their defense.
Kazakis became the latest Greek to walk for two yellows in the 43rd minute before BVB finally wrapped the game up in the last minute. Kehl threaded the ball through the area to Buckley who fired it wide of the keeper's dive.
Xanthi 0-2 Dortmund
Xanthi scorers: none
Dortmund scorers: Cabañas 16, Buckley 90
Att: 7,316
(Dortmund win 8-0 on aggregate)

The measly £60,000 we got for beating the Greeks was not important, what is important is that we are now guaranteed four matches in the UEFA Cup Group Stages.
The draw for the groups was made after the night's games and we have emerged with a reasonable group. We're in Group C along with Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, Polish side Wisla Krakow, Belgium boys Racing Club Genk and Czech Republic's Banik Ostrava.
The fixtures are:

20/10 Banik Ostrava (a)
03/11 RC Genk (h)
30/11 AZ Alkmaar (a)
14/12 Wisla Krakow (h)

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 1st October 2005

Just two Bundesliga matches today, Roy Makaay scored in the 54th minute to give Bayern a home win over Duisburg while Ebbe Sand's 90th minute equaliser in a 1-1 tie at M'Gladbach lifted Schalke up to second.

Sunday 2nd October 2005

BVB Dortmund v Vfl Wolfsburg
Bundesliga

Wolfsburg come to the Westfalenstadion three points and two places higher than us having not conceded a goal in their last three Bundesliga outings. The only change I make to the squad is to bring Jensen and fit again Colautti onto the bench in place of Brzenska and Ciullo.
Dortmund got off to an excellent start in the 12th minute. Degen played the ball sideways to Kehl who threaded it through to Buckley; he looked up and lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper into the net. Wolfsburg tried to get back into it but their finishing was dreadful, they only managed one out of ten shots on target all game.
Cabañas showed his worth once more in the second half. Dédé found Koller in the 51st minute and he played a delightful ball to Cabañas to slide wide of the Vfl keeper. Just six minutes later another Dédé free kick into the area was powered home by the Paraguayan striker for his sixth Bundesliga goal in six appearances.
Dortmund 3-0 Wolfsburg
Dortmund scorers: Buckley 12, Cabañas 51, 57
Wolfsburg scorers: none
Att: 69,496

The win lifted us to 4th but Leverkusen had to score a second half equaliser to salvage a point. Hannover were pleased to get their first win of the season

[b] Results: [.b]

Frankfurt 0-2 Köln
Hannover 2-1 Mainz
Hertha BSC 2-0 Bielefeld
Leverkusen 1-1 Kaiserslautern
Nürnberg 0-2 Stuttgart
W. Bremen 1-2 Hamburg

Sebastian Kehl has pulled a hamstring chasing a ball in the final minute against Wolfsburg and could now miss a month.

retired_blondie_524

The Bundesliga Table at the start of October 2005
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | FC Bayern | | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Leverkusen | | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Schalke | | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | DORTMUND | | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Wolfsburg | | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Werder Bremen | | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Stuttgart | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Hertha BSC | | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Nürnberg | | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Kaiserslautern | | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Köln | | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Gladbach | | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | HSV | | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Duisburg | | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Bielefeld | | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Frankfurt | | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Hannover | | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 12 | -7 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Mainz | | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_blondie_524

Wednesday 5th October 2005

One Bundesliga match today, goals by Marco Streller and Jon Dahl Tomasson give Stuttgart a 2-0 win at Frankfurt.

Saturday 8th October 2005

Jan Koller scored his 46th goal for the Czech Republic in their 2-2 draw with Holland while Delron Buckley hits two for South Africa against DR Congo.

Wednesday 12th October 2005

Jan Koller hits the winner as Czech Republic win 3-2 in Finland.

Saturday 15th October 2005

VfB Stuttgart v BVB Dortmund
Bundesliga

We travel to the south to face one of the teams level with us on points but ahead on goal difference, Stuttgart are on a three match unbeaten tear at the moment. Mathieu Flamini gets his first Bundesliga start in place of the injured Kehl in the only change to the starting XI. In the pre-match interviews I tell the press what a revelation Delron Buckley has been this season and tell them his emergence is one of the reasons we're up at the top challenging.
Jan Koller followed his international scoring efforts by opening the scoring here. Koller and Cabañas totally bemused the Stuttgart defense with their interchange passing and Koller ended up with a simple tap-in on four minutes. Dortmund hardly gave the home side a whiff of the action and if it hadn't been for some wayward shooting BVB would have sealed this one earlier.
As it was they had to wait until the last ten minutes before Dédé’s corner deep into the six-yard box was met by Cabañas rising above a crowd to power the ball straight into the centre of the net. Degen gave away a sloppy penalty with four minutes left to make it a nervous last few minutes.
Stuttgart 1-2 Dortmund
Stuttgart scorers: Meißner 86 pen
Dortmund scorers: Koller 4, Cabañas 80
Att: 54,224

The win takes us third behind Bayern and Schalke who win again. Duisburg continue to confound the critics as they win again and the supposed relegation battlers are comfortablely in the top half.

Results:

Bielefeld 0-2 Bayern
Duisburg 1-0 Frankfurt
Mainz 0-0 W. Bremen
Schalke 4-2 Nürnberg
Wolfsburg 1-1 Leverkusen

Sunday 16th October 2005

Hamburg beat Hertha 2-0 with two goals early in the second half and Kaiserslautern's Ciriaco Sforza grabbed a 90th minute winner to beat Hannover 3-2. M'Gladbach had no problems going the short distance to Köln and winning 3-1.

Thursday 20th October 2005

Banik Ostrava v BVB Dortmund
UEFA Cup Group C

We opened the group stage by travelling to the Czech Republic, Flamini keeps his place as Kehl is still injured, otherwise it's a full strength squad.
Dortmund batter Ostrava during the opening half-hour but just couldn't find a way past Ludek Cerny in the home goal. Finally on 31 minutes Degen fizzed a cross to the far post and Odonkor got up above the keeper to head home. Cerny looked shaken and not long afterwards Koller, back in his homeland, rose above Cerny and headed number two.
Odonkor was replaced by Gambino at half-time with a knock and although it was a quieter start to the second half Dortmund were always in control. With 24 minutes left a goalmouth scramble led to Buckley poking in BVB's third and two minutes later it was four. Dédé's throw found Ricken just inside the area and with a brilliant sidestep and turn he drilled it into the top corner. The final word went to the hometown boy; Ciullo flicked the ball across to Koller who buried it from the edge of the area.
B. Ostrava 0-5 Dortmund
Ostrava scorers: none
Dortmund scorers: Odonkor 31, Koller 37, 74, Buckley 66, Ricken 68
Att: 11,613

In the other game in Group C, AZ Alkmaar went to Poland to play Wisla and were two up at half-time before going on to win 3-1.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 22nd October 2005

Not many goals around today, just nine in the six games played with the top score being 1-1. Leverkusen slip to sixth as they go down to an 18th minute Meißner goal at home against Stuttgart who are now third.

Results:

Frankfurt 1-0 Bielefeld
M'Gladbach 1-1 Duisburg
Leverkusen 0-1 Stuttgart
Mainz 1-1 Hamburg
Nürnberg 1-1 Köln
W. Bremen 1-0 Kaiserslautern

Sunday 23rd October

BVB Dortmund v FC Schalke 04
Bundesliga

Fourth plays second as we entertain our near neighbours from Gelsenkirchen. I have no choice really but to stick with the team that thrashed Ostrava.
Dortmund struck first after 16 minutes when Odonkor floated a cross into the area and Buckley ran across the face of the defense to head home. Schalke fought their way back into the game and grabbed an equaliser five minutes before the break. BVB seemingly hadn't learnt from their cup game against Schalke, when Kuranyi picked up the ball 25-yards they failed to close him down and he just launched a rocket into the top corner.
Dortmund regained the lead three minutes into the second half as Ricken threw a long ball towards the far post where Koller had peeled away ready to power the ball home. Schalke couldn't drag themselves back again and BVB finished them off in the last 10 minutes. Flamini's long ball was picked up by Koller who lobbed the keeper for his second of the game and three minutes on it was Dédé's turn to be provider as his ball set Ciullo away to fire home his fifth of the season.
Dortmund 4-1 Schalke
Dortmund scorers: Buckley 16, Koller 48, 79, Ciullo 82
Schalke scorers: Kuranyi 40
Att: 82, 648

The win lifted us back to second in the table while in the other TV game today Wolfsburg won at Hanover 6-0
thanks mainly to four goals from Mike Hanke.

Salvatore Gambino has fallen awkwardly and has suffered a broken collarbone that will keep him out for up to two months.

Dennis Gentenaar has tired of being third goalie and has requested a transfer. I have agreed as I can't see him getting regular football here for a while.

Wednesday 26th October 2005

1.FC Köln v BVB Dortmund
Bundesliga

We didn't have to travel far to take on underachieving Köln who sit in 25th place with only two wins from their first eight games. Kehl was fit enough to take his place on the bench while Colautti replaced the injured Gambino.
The first half was very much nip and tuck, BVB started well and pushed the home side back but just couldn't find that telling ball. As the half wore on Köln came more into it and were probably the better team by the time the break came.
The second half was disrupted constantly by the referee's whistle as the foul count rose. Referee Fandel handed out 11 yellow cards, 7 to BVB which made the play rather stunted but finally on the hour, Buckley's deft flick in a packed penalty area found Ricken in a yard of space and he lashed the ball home. The lead didn't last long because barely minutes later the defense failed to stop Peter Madsen reaching a high cross and he headed home the equaliser. A poor game in the end which didn't flow but probably the right result.
Köln 1-1 Dortmund
Köln scorers: Madsen 63
Dortmund scorers: Ricken 60
Att: 44,166

Bayern are in full steam ahead mode now, recording their seventh win in nine outings, although it took a 90th minute winner from Ballack. Wolfsburg also had to wait until six minutes from time before Hanke fired home the winner. Stuttgart in fifth surprisingly lost to a 20th minute goal against lowly Hannover.

Results:

Bielefeld 2-3 M'Gladbach
Duisburg 1-0 Nürnberg
Hamburg 1-2 FC Bayern
Hertha BSC 0-0 Frankfurt
Kaiserslautern 4-0 Mainz
Schalke 0-2 Leverkusen
Stuttgart 0-1 Hannover
Wolfsburg 2-1 W. Bremen

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 29th October 2005

Wolfsburg comfortable win at Mainz saw them go top above Munich as 10-man Bayern went down to a 77th minute goal by Christoph Preuß, their first defeat of the season. Hannover continued a bit of a revival as they grab a point against Schalke.

Results:

Frankfurt 3-2 FC Bayern
M'Gladbach 0-3 Hertha BSC
Hannover 1-1 Schalke
Kaiserslautern 3-3 Hamburg
Mainz 0-2 Wolfsburg
Nürnberg 1-2 Bielefeld
W. Bremen 1-1 Stuttgart

Sunday 30th October 2005

BVB Dortmund v MSV Duisburg
Bundesliga

Duisburg come to Westfalenstadion unbeaten in the last three games and in a respectful 10th place. We fielded an unchanged squad.
Dortmund opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Voss' poor clearance was headed right back to Cabañas in acres of space; he drilled in his 10th goal of the season. Duisburg fought a magnificent rearguard effort but consequently created nothing offensively, only managing one shot on target all game.
Duisburg were dealt a blow with just over a quarter of an hour to go; Biliskov received a straight red for pulling back substitute Ciullo just outside the area. They held on until the 92nd minute when BVB finally wrapped it up, Odonkor fed the ball from the wing to unmarked substitute Kehl, making his first appearance since injury and he slammed the ball into the roof of the net for his first of the season.
Dortmund 2-0 Duisburg
Dortmund scorers: Cabañas 21, Kehl 92
Duisburg scorers: none
Att: 73,493

The second goal was important as it puts us at the top of a group of three sides all on 23 points. There's a five point gap to Leverkusen after they lost 2-0 at home to two second half goals by Köln.

retired_blondie_524

The Bundesliga Table at the start of November 2005
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | DORTMUND | | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Wolfsburg | | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | FC Bayern | | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 23 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Leverkusen | | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 18 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Stuttgart | | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Schalke | | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 14 | +4 | 17 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Werder Bremen | | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 16 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Kaiserslautern | | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Gladbach | | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Hertha BSC | | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Duisburg | | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 18 | -8 | 14 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Köln | | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | HSV | | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 13 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Frankfurt | | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 11 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Nürnberg | | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -7 | 10 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Bielefeld | | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Hannover | | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 22 | -13 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Mainz | | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 17 | -12 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>