BERLIN: Ten-man Borussia Moenchengladbach snatched a last-gasp equalizer to draw 2-2 with Hamburg SV for whom Rafael van der Vaart scored his first goal since returning to the club but missed a second-half penalty in the Bundesliga on Wednesday night.
Alvaro Dominguez headed in a Juan Arango free kick in stoppage time to earn a draw after Van der Vaart, a crowd favorite at Hamburg after his first spell between 2005-08, drilled in a stunning shot from the edge of the box midway through the first half but struck his penalty against the post.
Artjom Rudnevs gave Hamburg the lead again on the stroke of halftime after Martin Stranzl, sent off in the 53rd for conceding the penalty, had leveled.
“It would have been a done deal had I scored the penalty,” Van der Vaart said. “After that I had the feeling that it could even all go wrong.” Dominguez’s late equalizer left Hamburg, who had beaten champions Borussia Dortmund last week for their first win, 14th on four points while Gladbach are 10th on six.
“I am satisfied because we played a very good game but a.m. furious for giving it away,” said Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink.
“We set the pace for 90 minutes and conceded two goals from set pieces.” Hanover 96 continued their stunning run to crush Nuremberg 4-1 with two goals from Ivorian forward Didier Ya Konan lifting them up to third on 10 points.
Hanover, who are also competing in the Europa League, are now unbeaten in 21 successive home games.
Bayer Leverkusen notched their first away win of the season, crushing Augsburg 3-1 to prove right team chief Sami Hyypia who said this week that recovery from a bad start was only a matter of time.
Hoffenheim continued their own recovery with their second successive win, beating hosts VfB Stuttgart 3-0 with Takashi Usami snatching an early lead and Joselu and Fabian Johnson also on target. Stuttgart, who have yet to win this season, are in 17th place.
Werder Bremen came from a goal down to beat Freiburg 2-1 with goals from Joseph Akpala and Aaron Hunt and score their first away win in seven months.
Bayern Munich opened up a two-point lead at the top after beating VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 on Tuesday. Borussia Dortmund dropped seven points behind on eight after squandering a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Eintracht Frankfurt who are second on 12.
Late goal earns Gladbach draw with Hamburg
Late goal earns Gladbach draw with Hamburg
Muchova beats Mboko in Qatar final to end title drought
- Her title run in Doha will lift her from 19 to 11 in the world rankings
DOHA: Karolina Muchova captured her first WTA 1000 crown and her first title since 2019 with an impressive 6-4, 7-5 victory over Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko in the Qatar Open final on Saturday.
After battling back from a set and a break down in the semifinals against Maria Sakkari the previous night, Muchova, 29, was in fierce form against Mboko to clinch the biggest title of her career.
“It’s been a while since I won a tournament, so it’s nice to get that feeling again, to be reminded of that victory feeling again,” said Muchova during the trophy ceremony.
“I’d like to congratulate Victoria; you’re still a teenager but you play with so much maturity. I’m sure you have many titles ahead of you.”
A former French Open finalist, Muchova’s career has been hampered by injuries but she has started 2026 in fine fashion, amassing a 12-2 win-loss record over the past six weeks.
Her title run in Doha will lift her from 19 to 11 in the world rankings, while Mboko guaranteed herself a top-10 debut on Monday by making the final.
Muchova put together a clean opening set, landing an impressive 75 percent of her first serves, and dropping just three points behind that first delivery.
The Czech faced zero break points across the 43-minute set and showcased her prowess at the net to take a solid step toward the title.
Mboko made adjustments on return in the second set, and managed to decode her opponent’s serve to carve a 4-2 gap but her advantage was short-lived as Muchova broke twice and wrapped up the contest in 94 minutes.
The 19-year-old Mboko has the most match wins on the women’s tour this season with 13 to just three defeats. She will rise to No. 10 in the world on Monday.
“It’s not the outcome I wanted but I think there’s many positives to take away,” said Mboko, who was competing in her fourth WTA final, and second at the 1000 level.
