Bundesliga 2 re-opened its doors last weekend after a hefty winter break of six weeks, and table toppers Eintracht Braunschweig continued where they left off with a 2-1 win at a Paderborn side who have now lost five on the trot. The absence through injury of captain Dennis Kruppke didn’t affect Braunschweig, who won thanks to goals from Petersch on his first start of the season & long serving defender Deniz Dogan. Hertha Berlin remain two points behind but improved their goal difference with a 5-1 rout of bottom of the table Jahn Regensburg with all six goals coming in the second half, making it a miserable day for former Poland coach Franciszek Smuda, who was taking charge of his first Jahn game. Kaiserslautern hold the play-off place & keep a five point advantage thanks to a late winner at 1860 Munich who lost for the first time under Alexander Schmidt.
Union Berlin celebrated opening a new stand by crushing lowly Sandhausen 3-1, with Baris Ozbek coming off the bench for a debut goal. They move above Cottbus, who were held to a 0-0 draw at St Pauli although Cottbus were angry at not being awarded a late penalty. Ingolstadt & Koln both won to climb above 1860 Munich & FSV Frankfurt in the table, they remain six points behind Kaiserslautern.
Bochum were delighted with a excellent 2-2 draw at Aalen, which keeps them in 15th place with 21 points. Dynamo Dredsen are one place & four points behind them in the relegation play-off place, with promoted pair Sandhausen (15 points) & Jahn Regensburg (13 points) looking in big trouble.
France
Both Nantes & Monaco remain locked in a battle at the top after both recorded away wins at the weekend. Nantes made the short trip to Le Mans & won 3-0 with a brace for winter loan signing Caracus Fernando Aristeguieta & a penalty from Filipe Djordjevic, who takes his tally to 15 for the season. Monaco travelled to Arles on Monday & rode their luck in a disappointing first half but the introduction of new 3.5 million euro signing Emmanuel Riviere changed the game. The French under-21 man took just three minutes to open his account before another big money signing Lucas Ocampos came off the bench to make it 2-0. Caen remain in the last promotion spot after they ended Nimes’ four match winning run with a 1-0 home win.
Guingamp needed a last minute Yatabare goal to beat Niort 4-3 in a thriller, the winner completing his hat-trick. Angers stay fifth after a 0-0 draw at Istres. Le Havre beat Dijon 3-0 & are steadily climbing the table & now sit just six points behind Caen. It was a miserable night for former HAC forward Brice Jovial who missed a late penalty & was then sent off for inappropriate behaviour which could result in a lengthy ban.
Sedan conceded a last minute leveller in the home game with Clermont & are eight points from safety. Gazelec Ajaccio were beaten 2-0 at Lens & have now lost their last three games while the bottom three is completed by Laval who were involved in a real humdinger of a game which saw them lose out by the odd goal in nine at home to Auxerre, for whom Yaya Sanogo struck four times.
Holland
Sparta Rotterdam top the table after a narrow 1-0 win over Cambuur on Sunday. MVV Maastricht had a chance to make it a short lived spell at the top but they lost 4-3 at home to Volendam in a re-arranged fixture on Monday, although they still have a game in hand. Helmond Sport in third place stay in touch after a 1-1 draw at Fortuna Sittard in which debut striker Samir Fazli, on loan from Heerenveen, opened his account. Dordrecht slip to seventh place after they were beaten by two Rhys Murphy goals at Telstar on Gert Kruys’ first game in his second spell in charge.
Volendam move into fourth place after picking up four points with a 2-2 draw at Oss followed by the entertaining win at MVV Maastricht, with last season’s Eerste Divisie top scorer Jack Tuyp extending his lead at the top of this season’s chart with three goals in the two games. De Graafschap are beginning to live up to their billing as pre-season favourites with a fine 5-1 win over Almere City, making it four wins from the last five games.
The battle of the bottom two ended all square in terms of goals & players left on the field as Eindhoven & Excelsior drew 1-1 with both teams reduced to ten men. Fellow strugglers Emmen also picked up a point, drawing 1-1 at local rivals Veendam. Eindhoven also had a game on Monday but lost 3-1 at Den Bosch and although they are only one point behind Excelsior & Emmen, they are five points behind Telstar in 14th & face a tough trip to De Graafschap at the weekend.
Spain
No wins this weekend for any of the top five. Cordoba in sixth were the big winners, as they overcame Lugo & are two points ahead of Las Palmas in seventh, who drew 0-0 with league leaders Elche. The Franjiverdes extend their lead at the top of Liga Adelante to 12 points following the draw after Almeria in second were beaten 2-1 at Real Madrid Castilla & Girona in third went down 2-0 at Ponferradina. Alcorcon also suffered a defeat at Hercules, who seem to be finding improvement under Quique Hernandez & move up a place to third bottom, whilst Barcelona B in fifth place lost 3-2 in the derby with a Sabadell side who have now won three of the last four games & find themselves in eighth place, just three points from Cordoba in the last play-off spot.
Racing Santander won 2-1 at Sporting Gijon, ending the hosts’ nine game unbeaten run, a defeat which didn’t go down well with the home fans but due to Hercules’ win over Alcorcon, Racing are still at the foot of the table. Xerez lost for the fourth time in a row & have now gone 12 games without a win as on loan Dani Pacheco scored in Huesca’s 2-0 win which puts them on the same points as Guadalajara but still in the drop zone on goal difference. Guadalajara kept yet another clean sheet, their fourth in five games in a 0-0 draw with Villarreal.
Italy
Livorno closed the gap on a wobbling Sassuolo to just one point after a routine 2-0 victory over Pro Vercelli, although there was nothing routine about the flight to Rome Livorno substitute Savva Gentsoglou took after the game! 16 people were injured as the plane landed in a field near Rome’s Fiumicino airport, fortunately Gentsoglou wasn’t injured. Sassuolo dropped points at home for the second time this season but remain unbeaten after a 1-1 draw with play-off hopefuls Empoli & Hellas Verona’s lead in third place was cut to eight points after they drew at Reggina, while fourth placed Varese beat Modena 2-0. Juve Stabia move up to fifth place after Improta grabbed a 76th minute winner at relegation threatened Vicenza. Empoli hold the last play-off place one point ahead of Brescia who were held 0-0 at home to Spezia.
Grosseto looked certain to grab a second straight win for the first time this season until Padova’s Cutolo fired home a 96th minute penalty to earn the Patavini a point, leaving Grosetto ten points away from a relegation play-off place. Pro Vercelli are a point ahead of Grosseto & three points behind Vicenza who are in the last automatic relegation spot. The relegation play off places are held by Bari, who had a respectable 0-0 draw at Ternana & Reggina.
0 votes
