Bayern beat Frankfurt, Stuttgart beaten
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German record champions Bayern Munich defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at home on Saturday, while Stuttgart lost to Hannover 0-1.
Bayern Munich pulled it off at the death in what had been labelled a "must-win" game against Eintracht Frankfurt. An 88th-minute header from Daniel van Buyten secured them a 2-1 victory, after the visitors had gone ahead in the second half.
Bayern went into the game under pressure from the top down, in the form of CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's call for a "response" to their midweek Champions League defeat at Bordeaux.
That response took the initial form of a mixture of robust tackling and sloppy passing in the final third of the park. On six minutes German striker Miroslav Klose nearly had them in front however, firing a shot on the turn just wide after a cross from defender Philipp Lahm reached him by way of Luca Toni's knee.
Eintracht were holding their shape well against the home side in the opening stages and it was not until midway through the half that Bayern were able to carve out another clear-cut opportunity.
A couple of minutes before half time Toni was in the thick of it again, getting off a shot from the edge of the box that rattled the post.
After the break, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal brought Robben on for Klose in the 59th minute and the effect was instantaneous – at the other end. Patrick Ochs freed Alexander Meier up inside the box and the striker coolly slotted the ball past Bayern goalie Jorg Butt.
Five minutes later, Butt pushed away a shot by Ochs from a tight angle as Frankfurt warmed to their attacking game.
Just when things were starting to look rocky for Bayern however, Muller put in a high cross, striker Mario Gomez - who had only come off the bench seven minutes earlier - got to the ball ahead of Nikolov in the air, and Robben was left with the task of steering it into the empty net.
Three minutes later a header from Toni pulled an acrobatic save out of Nikolov as the hosts tried to reassert their dominance. For all their effort, the game looked to be heading for a draw, but with just two minutes of regulation time remaining Muller latched onto a long ball from Lahm and set up van Buyten to head home the winner.
The match between Hannover 96 and VfB Stuttgart ended with a 1-0 defeat for Stuttgart. Both teams started highly motivated, both struggled to produce scoring chances.
At the 30.minute first opportunity for Hannovers Ivorian striker Didier Ya Konan, who opened the scoring, the sole goal for the game.
The game between Hoffenheim and new boys Nuernberg turned out to be sweeping victory for the host, which secured three goals to humiliate Nuernburg.
Another sweeping victory on Saturday went to Bundesliga newcomer Mainz 05, who crashed Freiburg 3-0 at home.
The match between Borussia M'gladbach and Koeln ended goalless.
On Sunday, Bundesliga bottom team Hertha will host defending Champion Wolfsburg; Schalke are to receive Bundesliga runners-up Hamburger SV while Bochum will visit Bremen.
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