Wolfsburg, Schalke crash to shock defeats

Eintracht Frankfurt captain Alexander Meier hit a hat-trick as Champions League side Wolfsburg lost 3-2 away while Schalke also crashed as Sunday yielded two shock Bundesliga defeats.

Published : Jan 25, 2016 00:52 IST , Berlin

Makoto Hasebe of Eintracht Frankfurt holds off Josuha Guilavogui of VfL Wolfsburg during a Bundesliga match at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.
Makoto Hasebe of Eintracht Frankfurt holds off Josuha Guilavogui of VfL Wolfsburg during a Bundesliga match at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.
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Makoto Hasebe of Eintracht Frankfurt holds off Josuha Guilavogui of VfL Wolfsburg during a Bundesliga match at Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt.

Eintracht Frankfurt captain Alexander Meier hit a hat-trick as Champions League side Wolfsburg lost 3-2 away while Schalke also crashed as Sunday yielded two shock Bundesliga defeats.

Wolfsburg, who face Ghent in the last 16 of the Champions League, are seventh, outside next season's European places, after the Frankfurt defeat. Schalke are sixth after losing 3-1 at home to relegation-threatened Werder Bremen.

After Wolfsburg's Germany winger Andre Schurrle hit a late equaliser in Frankfurt, the Wolves were heading for a 2-2 draw before Meier struck a late dramatic winner.

Wolfsburg took an early lead when centre-back Dante slotted home on 25 minutes, but Meier, last season's top scorer in Germany's top flight, took advantage of poor Wolfsburg defending. He equalised on 66 minutes, then put his side ahead on 73 minutes before Schurrle levelled six minutes later.

But Meier produced his third goal, from just his third shot, three minutes into added time as Wolfsburg were punished for woeful defending.

The result left Wolfsburg seventh, with Eintracht 14th, and means the Wolves are winless in their three games since beating Manchester United in their final Champions League group game.

>Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 VfL Wolfsburg

Lowly Bremen stun Schalke

Another German league shock then followed in Gelsenkirchen when Schalke crashed despite taking a fourth-minute lead through Cameroon defender Joel Matip from a corner.

Bremen remain in the bottom three despite picking up only their fifth win of the season with goals by captain Clemens Fritz, former Bayern and Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro and Nigeria's Anthony Ujah.

Veterans ruled at the Veltins Arena as Fritz, 35, equalised, then turned provider by setting up the 37-year-old Pizarro for his 178th German league goal in his 397th Bundesliga match on 54 minutes. And Fritz again provided the final pass for Ujah to hit Bremen's third, and his eighth of the season, just a minute from time.

>FC Schalke 1-3 Werder Bremen

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