27 goals across six games — that’s the gift the Bundesliga gave to the world on Saturday.
Granted, 17 of the 27 came in two crazy games early in the day — seriously, Bayern and Wolfsburg lost their minds this morning — but the rest of the day offered a 3-2, a 2-1, a pair of 1-0’s and most importantly, zero draws on the day.
Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 Cologne
The big movers of the day were Lucien Favre’s Gladbach side, who moved into the third and final automatic UEFA Champions League place with a 1-0 home victory over 11th-place Cologne. The three points very nearly never came as the score remained 0-0 through 90 minutes, but Granit Xhaka’s 91st-minute header (above photo) proved to be the winner and, thanks to results elsewhere, enough to propel Gladbach back among Germany’s elite.
U.S. national teamer Fabian Johnson was an unused substitute on the bench for Gladbach.
[ MORE: Bayern and Wolfsburg combine for 17 goals as league leaders cruise on Saturday ]
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Schalke 04
Schalke find themselves in fourth, two points behind Gladbach but still occupying a Champions League place, following a narrow defeat away to Eintracht Frankfurt. Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon scored the game’s only goal (64th minute), a looping header over the goalkeeper to send Frankfurt up to ninth in the Bundesliga.
Werder Bremen 3-2 Augsburg
Three first-half goals were just enough for eighth-placed Bremen to hold off fifth-placed Augsburg as former Wigan Athletic forward Franco di Santo (23rd minute) chipped in with a goal of his own. Assani Lukimya (16th) and Theodor Gebre Selassie (45th) also scored to cancel out goals by Ragnar Klavan (21st) and Tobias Werner (79th).
Sunday’s Bundesliga schedule
Hertha Berlin vs. Freiburg (9:30 am ET)
Hannover vs. Paderborn (11:30 am ET)