4th – 10th Jan 2021
The past week of sport contained chunky sized stories more than capable of filling the The Reporter’s sports pages.
There were top table clashes in the SPL and Bundesliga with third placed Aberdeen meeting runaway leaders Rangers at Pittodrie and an ailing Borussia Dortmund rising from the ashes to beat RB Leipzig – the Red Bulls looking to overtake Bayern Munich at the head of Bundesliga.
The shock of the weekend came from Bayern Munich who lost only their second league game of the season letting a two goal lead slip in a thriller against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Hard to take for Dons in defeat to Rangers
–Match report: Rangers beat Aberdeen 2-1 after Hedges sees red
–Preview: Why the animosity between the clubs? Find out from supporters
Even though Aberdeen succumbed to their third straight loss against arch rivals Rangers, the Dons performance wasn’t actually that bad. McInnes side were massively handicapped when Ryan Hedges was sent off for denying Rangers hitman Alfredo Morelos a goalscoring opportunity midway through the first half.
Although Tavernier missed the resulting penalty, the mountain The Reds had to surmount became too high with Rangers undefeated in the league having taken their best points tally at this stage in almost a century and without a loss in the SPL in close to a year.
Aberdeen remain third wedged between Celtic and Hibernian who play each other tonight. Depending on the result the Dons’ quest of splitting the Old Firm could be over if Celtic take three points off the Hibees at Parkhead, building a seven point gap between themselves and Derek McInnes’ men.
Bayern Munich can lose, sometimes…
–Match report: Bayern lose for only the second time this season in 3-2 thriller
It’s a bold statement but Borussia Monchengladbach may provide some evidence that there’s truth in the claim.
Bayern let go a two goal lead to lose 3-2 in a thriller at Borussia Park.
A Lewan penalty and Leon Goretzka strike from eighteen yards were cancelled out by two goals from the brilliant Jonas Hofmann and a worldy finish by Florian Neuhaus.
So rare is a Bayern defeat that in the all-conquering treble winning year of 2020 the Bavarian outfit lost one match. However coach Hansi’s magic may just be wearing off. Eleven days into 2021 Bayern have already succumbed in the league as they hunt down an unprecedented ninth title in a row.
Borussia Dortmund continue to dominate RB Leipzig
–Match report: Dortmund blow RB Leipzig away in second half to deny Nagelsmann’s side top spot
–Preview: 5 things to look out for in Bundesliga’s top table clash between BVB and RB
What a chance it was for Julian Nagelsmann’s side to take top spot in Bundesliga with Bayern having already lost and playing an out-of-sorts Borussia Dortmund on a snowy evening in Saxony.
Dortmund’s travails are well documented this season having sacked manager Lucian Favre after two years at the helm and already losing five league matches this campaign. But with Haaland and Sancho amongst their firepower the BlackYellows are always going to recover and they did just that at the Red Bull Arena with an impressive second half display.
It’s now four wins and two draws for Dortmund against Leipzig. No other team in the league has a better record against Die Roten Bullen. The result was that much more sweet as all of Dortmund’s immediate title competitors dropped points over the weekend with Leverksuen, Wolfsburg and Union Berlin drawing as well as RB and Bayern losing.
On a side note before leaving Germany – former Spurs boss and now head coach at Schalke Christian Gross got the Royal Blues their first win after thirty games with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim.
Gross has quite a job on his hand in Gelsenkirchen, not only saving Schalke from relegation but keeping happy an executive board that since March 2019 has gone through five coaches.
More control for Rangers and Celtic?
–Rangers and Celtic want to introduce ‘Colts B teams’into league 2
Finally there was news that Rangers and Celtic are trying to get clubs to vote on them entering B teams into Division Two and to help sway decisions the Old Firm are putting £1m up for grabs.
With the way Scottish football has gone and the fact that nearly no one can win anything in Scotland other than the big two anymore, do the Gers and Hoops really need more control of an already conquered national game?
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 