As Bundesliga highlights go, it’s unlikely there will be a more heart-warming scene anywhere all season.
For there really is only one place to start following the 19th week of Bundesliga action.
It arrived in the 51st minute in the contest between Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg and right in front of what is known as the Westfalenstadion’s ‘Yellow Wall’.
At that point hosts Dortmund had just reclaimed the lead against Freiburg, by now reduced to 10 men, when the moment arrived.
It was the moment Sebastien Haller, recently returned after undergoing surgeries and treatment for testicular cancer diagnosed only weeks after he had signed for the club last July, netted his first competitive goal for them.
It was, the striker observed post-match, a ‘message of hope and courage’, one he hoped would inspire cancer patients around the world.
Indeed, before the match and during the half-time break, the club also placed a bulge that symbolized a testicular tumour in the centre circle to raise awareness of the disease.
Given Haller’s track record, more goals can be expected.
He joined Dortmund after a record-breaking season with Ajax, during which he finished on an Eredivisie-leading 21 strikes and also ended up third in the Champions League scoring charts behind Karim Benzema (15) and Robert Lewandowski (13) after scoring 11 times during Ajax’s run to the last 16.
For now, though, as a popular player eases his way to fitness, it was a moment to cherish.
On the footballing front, fans and players of Freiburg – one of the teams of the season so far – can be forgiven for feeling dejected as they were leapfrogged and slipped to sixth in the table.
Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi, Julian Brandt and Gio Reyna were also on the scoresheet as Dortmund moved up to third against opponents who had Kiliann Sidillia sent off after 17 minutes.
Elsewhere, a team this SBOTOP observer also considers one of the teams of the campaign, Union Berlin, temporarily went top with a 2-1 home success over Mainz.
Jordan Pefok powered home an 84th minute winner to secure a fourth straight league win, just six minutes after substitute Marcus Ingvartsen had scored an equaliser for the mid-table battlers from the penalty spot.
Kevin Behrens had earlier put the home side in front just after the half hour mark.
Elsewhere, Bochum did their survival hopes no harm at all as they ran out 5-2 winners against fellow strugglers Hoffenheim to move level on points with them.
Three goals to the good before the break, Takuma Asano netted his first Bundesliga goal since last April as Bochum secured five straight home wins for the first time since 1976.
Bottom club Schalke aren’t giving up without a fight either after battling to a goalless draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
After being under the cosh for long spells of the first half, Schalke were much improved in the second period and attacked with a greater sense of adventure which meant the contest was end-to-end.
Neither team could break the deadlock, however, as Schalke held on for a point and a second successive clean sheet.
The match of the weekend, on paper at least, saw champions Bayern Munich travel to Wolfsburg on Sunday teatime.
After a run a run of three successive draws, the Bavarians were out to avoid becoming draw specialists and they did just that to blitz away former boss Niko Kovac whose Wolfsburg team had been on a 10-match unbeaten run, including six straight wins, until last weekend.
The Bundesliga betting odds in favour of the hosts were all but rendered null and void inside the opening 19 minutes.
That’s how long it took Bayern to score three times and return to the summit.
First Kingsley Coman moved inside and curled the ball into the box, seemingly destined for Thomas Müller, but instead it nestled into the net.
Then the Frenchman produced a textbook volley from a super Joao Cancelo delivery to double the advantage.
Two quickly became three as the evergreen Müller – on his record-equalling 427th Bundesliga appearance for Bayern – nonchalantly nodded home a Joshua Kimmich free-kick.
After half an hour, Kovac had seen enough and changed his system, including bringing on Jakub Kaminski who rounded off a fluent attack on the stroke of half-time to pull one back.
The comprehensive scoreline got potentially interesting nine minutes after the restart when Kimmich received a second yellow card and it was Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann’s turn to make changes.
Yet with 10 or 11 men, the champions remained composed and Jamal Musiala showed skill and drive to weave past a host of defenders before firing in the fourth.
Mattias Svanberg pulled one back for the home team, firing home from Lukas Nmecha’s cutback, but the character and class of the champions meant they would not be threatened.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
