Hashemian Fires Bochum to Victory Over Eintracht

Mehr News – Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian scored his 10th goal of the season to inspire VfL Bochum to a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday. 
The Iranian sensation slotted home in the 21st minute in a 16th-week match, helping his side lie in fifth on 25 points.

Hashemian has totally scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga, breaking his fellow countryman Ali Daei’s 19-goal record.

Bayern Munich was again indebted to record signing Roy Makaay as they ended the unbeaten record of VfB Stuttgart with a 1-0 win at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

The result allowed ten-man Werder Bremen to nudge Stuttgart off top spot in the Bundesliga thanks to their 3-1 away win over title rivals Bayer Leverkusen.

Dutch international Makaay, 28, fired his club into the last sixteen of the Champions League in midweek and showed he was the man for the big occasion once again when he netted the decisive goal on 75 minutes, reported AFP.

Stuttgart, which has not won in Munich since September 1999, surrenders top spot to Bremen while Bayern closes in ominously on the pretenders to its crown.

Visitor Stuttgart can feel hard done by Makaay's goal was like a sucker punch after Felix Magath's side had tested the cat-like reflexes of Oliver Kahn on more than one occasion.

Timo Wenzel, Philipp Lahm and Kevin Kuranyi all went close to breaking the deadlock while Bayern was restricted to long-range shots which did little to appease the bulk of the 63,000 fans.

The match looked destined to end in stalemate until a glaring error from Portuguese international Fernando Meira allowed Makaay a glimpse of goal.

Meira misjudged a lofted ball and his tame header allowed the alert Makaay to lash home clinically past Timo Hildebrand.

Ten-man Werder Bremen took full advantage of Stuttgart's slip with a 3-1 triumph over Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena.

Bremen's French playmaker Johan Micoud had a mixed afternoon, creating both of Werder's goals in the first half before losing his cool and getting sent off with just over 20 minutes remaining following two rash challenges.

A reverse pass from the 30-year-old Frenchman sliced open the Bayer rearguard shortly before the interval, allowing Ivan Klasnic to feed Brazilian striker Ailton for his 15th goal of the season.

Micoud then produced a sublime diagonal ball two minutes later for Serbia and Montenegro defender Mladen Krstajic to bullet home a header.

Needing to overcome a two-goal deficit Bayer pushed forward in numbers but could not make the breakthrough until Micoud pressed the self-destruct button on 67 minutes.

Five minutes after the dismissal Bayer captain Jens Nowotny fumbled an effort home for his first goal in more than three years.

A frantic finale followed with Leverkusen throwing everyone forward but a swift counterattack saw Klaus Augenthaler's side come undone.

Ailton raced clear and Nowotny upended the Brazilian in the penalty area and promptly received his marching orders.

Krisztian Lisztes clinched the spoils for Bremen after converting the resultant penalty.

Results of Bundesliga soccer matches played on Saturday:

Kaiserslautern 0 Schalke 04 2

Hertha Berlin 1 TSV 1860 Munich 1

Hansa Rostock 1 Cologne 1

Bayer Leverkusen 1 Werder Bremen 3

Bayern Munich 1 VfB Stuttgart 0

Hamburg SV 4 SC Freiburg 1

VfL Bochum 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 0

Playing on Sunday:

VfL Wolfsburg vs. Hanover 96

Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Borussia Dortmund

The latest table comes below:

P W D L F A Pts

1. Werder Bremen 16 11 3 2 42 20 36

2. VfB Stuttgart 16 10 5 1 22 4 35

3. Bayer Leverkusen 16 9 5 2 31 15 32

4. Bayern Munich 16 9 5 2 34 19 32

5. VfL Bochum 16 7 4 5 28 20 25

6. Borussia Dortmund 15 7 3 5 27 22 24

7. Schalke 04 16 6 5 5 22 22 23

8. VfL Wolfsburg 15 7 0 8 32 30 21

9. SC Freiburg 16 6 3 7 24 31 21

10. Hamburg SV 16 5 5 6 20 27 20

11. Hansa Rostock 16 5 4 7 24 24 19

12. Hanover 96 15 5 4 6 27 33 19

13. TSV 1860 Munich 16 5 4 7 17 24 19

14. Kaiserslautern 16 5 2 9 19 30 14

15. B. Moenchengladbach 15 3 4 8 14 22 13

16. Hertha Berlin 16 2 7 7 15 30 13

17. Eintracht Frankfurt 16 3 3 10 14 25 12

18. Cologne 16 2 4 10 12 26 10

Note: Kaiserslautern deducted three points for illegal payments to avoid tax