Berliner Boersenzeitung - Frankfurt miss chance to close on Bayern as attack victims remembered

The final Bundesliga games of the year struck a bleak tone following the attack in Magdeburg on Friday night that killed five people and injured more than 200.

Players and many fans wore black armbands with a minute's silence preceding each game.

On the field, Frankfurt had a tricky assignment against their high-flying neighbours Mainz, who took the lead through a Kaua Santos own goal that has to go down as a contender for most bizarre goal of the season.

Frankfurt's reserve goalkeeper Santos tried to play out from the back, passing to the under-pressure Ellyes Skhiri, who sent it looping back over the head of his keeper, against the bar, and back into the net off the back off Santos.

Mainz lost captain Nadiem Amiri to a straight red card in the 21st minute, with the midfielder dismissed for a lunge that caught Skhiri on the ankle.

But Mainz's numerical disadvantage was not evident when Paul Nebel's long-distance strike took a deflection to deceive Santos.

Soon after the restart it was another Santos error which gifted Nebel his second and put Mainz in complete control.

Danish defender Rasmus Kristensen scored a late consolation but it was too little late for Frankfurt who are sitting third, nine points behind leaders Bayern, with second-place Bayer Leverkusen hosting Freiburg later Saturday.

Mainz, who beat Bayern Munich last weekend and Borussia Dortmund last month, have won five of their last six games.

- Kiel goal festival -

There was also a surprise 1-0 home defeat for Stuttgart against St Pauli and a 5-1 thrashing dished out by relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel, who picked up only their second win of the season in emphatic style.

Two early goals in Kiel set the tone for a goal festival against Augsburg who had taken the lead in the fifth minute through Alexis Claude.

They were pegged back seven minutes later after a beautifully worked counter-attack finished off by Lasse Rosenboom.

Kiel went ahead after another assist by Japanese international Shuto Machino, whose deflected cross was nodded in at the near post by Phil Harres.

Harres then added his second and Kiel's third three minutes before the star of the show, Machino, scored from a direct free-kick to make it four before half-time for a team who went into this contest having won only one Bundesliga game all season.

Although Harres had his dreams of a first Bundesliga hat-trick dashed by VAR in the second half, Machino's injury-time strike made it 5-1 as Kiel ended a streak of five straight defeats in some style.

Stuttgart's recent renaissance ended at the hands of St Pauli, who pulled off their third away victory of the season and their first ever in Stuttgart with Johannes Eggestein scoring the only goal in the 21st minute.

St Pauli held on for a vital win that sends them up to 14th and ends Stuttgart's five-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

In Bremen, the hosts took control through an early double from striker Marco Gruell.

Union struck back with a goal out of nothing, with Hungarian international Andras Schaefer expertly volleying in Tom Rothe's pinpoint cross.

But Bremen restored their two-goal cushion through a crisp Mitchell Weiser finish before a late fourth from Jens Stage put the icing on the cake for a 4-1 win and their third straight in the Bundesliga.

In Sinsheim, Borussia Moenchengladbach took the lead against Hoffenheim midway through the first half courtesy of Philipp Sander's low strike.

Hoffenheim were thrown a lifeline when they won a penalty that their all-time top scorer Andrej Kramaric dispatched to level the contest.

But Alassane Plea restored Gladbach's lead to ensure Hoffenheim end the year without a win in seven in all competitions.

(H.Schneide--BBZ)