Bundesliga – summary of the 31st round: Leverkusen struck again in the end

Goals: 34. Kevin Stöger, 45+2. Felix Passlack, 64. Kevin Stöger – 73. Andrej Kramarić, 84. Andrej Kramarić

In the 31st round of the German Bundesliga, the Bochum players managed to beat Hoffenheim in front of their own fans and won 3:2. The performance of the home team showed the need to win all the points, and at the end of the first half they were rewarded with two goals, while the opening strike of Kevin Stöger, who eventually scored two goals from a free kick, was especially worth mentioning. Pavel Kadeřábek was also a part of the visitors’ defense, which already conceded 63 goals in the season, which makes it the second worst defense in the competition. David Jurásek joined him in the 56th minute and assisted on his team’s only goal.

The home team fell to the 16th place in the playoffs due to a miserable streak of six games in a row without a win. Loud fans could help the Blue and Whites to stay in the highest German competition, in front of whom they performed sympathetically, as evidenced by only two defeats since the start of the season. This time Hoffenheim traveled to their field, which beat Gladbach 4:3 in the previous round.

The Blau-Weiss started very bravely to the delight of the home fans. They could have taken the lead in the fourth minute after a great shot by Philipp Hofmann, which was saved by goalkeeper Oliver Baumann at the last minute. The latter had to pass a similar test a few moments later against the same shooter.

Bochum appeared to be well prepared for their opponent and took the lead in the 34th minute when Stöger curled a free-kick just wide of the left post. On the other side, Tim Drexler could immediately answer, but his projectile only hit the crossbar. In the set time of the first half, Felix Passlack increased the difference to two goals, to whom a cross from the left edge of the pitch fell.

Even after the change of sides, nothing has changed in the performance of both teams. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men tried in vain to stop the onrushing Blau-Weiss. Worth noting was the individual action of Maximilian Wittek, who was able to put the club from the Kraichgau region in an almost unsolvable situation with an attempt from the 56th minute. The unteachable guests got into it anyway, eight minutes later, when Stöger cleared the ball safely into the goal after bouncing off the post.

Hoffenheim then reversed the fact to not score in an away game for only the second time this season. To a large extent, both Czech players took care of it when Jurásek shot after Kadeřábek’s individual action, whose attempt was deflected by Croatian forward Andrej Kramarič. The last-named player then succeeded once more with a successful lob, thus definitively closing the goal score of the match.

Bochum thus broke a series of setbacks and gained the critically important three points. In the next round, they will face Union Berlin on May 5, Hoffenheim will challenge Leipzig two days earlier.