While runaway leaders Bayern Munich have the Bundesliga title as good as won, the race for the top four looks set to go down to the wire, with just four points separating Schalke in second and Leipzig in sixth.

Schalke were 1-0 winners at home to Hertha Berlin thanks to Marko Pjaca’s 37th-minute effort.

Eintracht triumphed by the same scoreline, Danny da Costa scoring six minutes before the break to earn a 1-0 home win over Hannover.

Dortmund needed a 38th-minute equaliser from Marco Reus in the late kick-off to salvage a point at Leipzig.

The Germany forward superbly rounded home goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi and slotted a left-footed shot into the net seven minutes before half-time to cancel out Jean-Kevin Augustin’s 29th-minute opener.

Leverkusen saw off Wolfsburg 2-1 thanks to a first-half penalty from Lucas Alario and Julian Brandt’s 78th-minute effort.

Admir Mehmedi halved the deficit a minute later, but the struggling Wolves could not find a leveller and had William sent off at the death.

Defeat left Wolfsburg level on points with third-bottom Mainz, who lived dangerously on their way to a goalless draw at second-bottom Hamburg.

The visitors had Leon Balogun sent off in the 62nd minute in conceding a penalty, which Florian Muller saved from Filip Kostic.

Failure to win left Hamburg seven points behind their opponents.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim were 2-0 winners at Augsburg thanks to goals from Andrej Kramaric and Serge Gnabry.

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Source: Sky Sports

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Bosz arrived in the summer after guiding Ajax to the final of the Europa League but leaves with Dortmund seventh in the Bundesliga.

They will enter the Europa League in February after finishing third in their Champions League group behind Real Madrid and Tottenham.

Stoger was sacked by Cologne last week.

Cologne are bottom of the table and have not won a game in the league all season, but finished fifth last term having been promoted under Stoger.

The 51-year-old Austrian described his new job as “the opportunity of a lifetime”.

“Last night, in a conversation with Peter Bosz, we decided that we would release him with immediate effect,” said Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke.

“We parted on the best of terms and on behalf of all Borussia I would like to thank Peter Bosz. We still consider him a great coach and person.”

Dortmund have failed to win a league game since September and were beaten 2-1 at home by Werder Bremen on Saturday.

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Source: BBC

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Andriy Yarmolenko, signed in the summer from Dynamo Kiev for 25m euros, opened the scoring after just four minutes before Caiuby equalised for Augsburg.

Former Manchester United midfielder Kagawa hit the winner midway through the opening half.

England Under-17 forward Jadon Sancho was an unused substitute for Dortmund.

He joined the club from Manchester City for a fee in the region of £10m in the summer.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Stuttgart 2-1, Wolfsburg drew 1-1 with Mainz and Borussia Monchengladbach were 2-1 winners against Hannover.

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Source: BBC Sport

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Prosecutors also said one of the three explosive devices contained metal strips.

Two letters claiming the attack on Tuesday evening were being investigated, they said.

Prosecutors are treating the blasts as a terrorist attack but say the precise motive is unclear at present.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said the attack was “an appalling crime” and praised the fans of both teams for coming together.

Letter’s demands

A spokeswoman for Germany’s federal prosecutor, Frauke Koehler, said: “Two suspects from the Islamist spectrum have become the focus of our investigation. Both of their apartments were searched, and one of the two has been detained.”

The blast radius of the attack was about 100m. Prosecutors said it was lucky the casualties were not worse.

Ms Koehler said a piece of shrapnel had embedded itself in the headrest of one of the seats on the team bus.

She said three letters containing the same text were found near the site of the blasts, indicating that the attacker had links to so-called Islamic State (IS). IS had said it carried out the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12 people.

Ms Koehler said the letters demanded “the withdrawal of [German] tornado fighter jets from Syria and, I quote, the closure of Ramstein airbase.”

The text is being analysed to see if it is authentic.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said the letter began with the phrase “in the name of Allah”.

But it said it was possible the perpetrators were deliberately trying to mislead the investigation.

Another letter was published online, in which left-wing extremist groups claimed to have carried out the attack, but prosecutors had reason to believe this letter was not authentic.

What happened on Tuesday evening?

Borussia Dortmund players were on their way to their home Champions League quarter-final first-leg match against Monaco, when three explosive charges detonated, police said.

Player Marc Bartra underwent an operation after breaking a bone in his wrist. No other players were hurt, but a police officer on a motorbike escorting the bus suffered trauma from the noise of the explosions.

Several reports said the explosives had been hidden in a hedge.

Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki told Swiss news outlet Blick that the bus had turned on to the main road when there was a loud noise.

The players ducked to the floor of the bus, not knowing if there would be more blasts, he said.

Captain Marcel Schmelzer added “we’re all in shock” but their thoughts were with their injured colleague.

The 80,000-capacity Signal Iduna Park was later evacuated safely and the match postponed until 18:45 local time (16:45 GMT) on Wednesday.

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Source: BBC

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Arsenal v Manchester City (kickoff at 5:30pm)

The big game Citi Sports will broadcast on the day.

If momentum is anything to go by then the outcome of Arsenal’s meeting with Manchester City on Saturday is a foregone conclusion.

Coming into the clash at the Emirates Stadium, the two teams could hardly have experienced weeks of greater contrast.

For City, it was a few days that it would have been difficult to imagine going any better. After a 5-0 cruise against Fulham last weekend, they then went to the famous home of their illustrious neighbors and brushed them aside by scoring a further three goals and extending their run of clean sheets in the league to five.

Three points off the Premier League summit but with two games in hand, Manuel Pellegrini’s side are now very much favorites to claim the title.

Just seven days ago, Arsenal had realistic hopes of lifting that same trophy in May. Not so now. Their confidence shattered by a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea, Arsenal then conceded a last minute own goal to cost them all three points against Swansea.

This Saturday, it’s another #CitiSports EPL Roadshow from the @ChampsGHAccra Sports Bar. Be there! pic.twitter.com/umnlqTUw6q

— 97.3 Citi FM (@Citi973) March 28, 2014

Manchester United v Aston Villa (kickoff at 12:30pm)

The Red Devils need to bounce back quickly from Tuesday’s derby defeat, while Villa are sure to be smarting from their 4-1 loss at home to Stoke last Sunday. The Villans’ inconsistency has hampered their season – in the previous week, they inflicted a rare defeat on title-chasing Chelsea.

Robin van Persie is absent for a few more weeks because of a sprained knee, but while defenders Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling missed the derby through injury, Nemanja Vidic is available again after a two-match suspension.

In their last meeting, Villa were clinically swept aside in December, with two goals from Danny Welbeck within three first-half minutes giving United a comfortable cushion before Tom Cleverley pounced just after half-time to effectively end the game as a contest.

Crystal Palace v Chelsea (kickoff at 3pm)

Palace welcome Premier League leaders Chelsea to Selhurst Park on Saturday and Pulis, who was appointed as Ian Holloway’s replacement in November, is looking to become the first man to keep a Crystal Palace side in the Premier League beyond a single season.

After his side went down to a closely-fought 2-1 loss at Stamford Bridge in December, former Stoke boss Pulis is hoping to get his own back on Blues manager Mourinho, who he holds in high regard having only come up against him for the first time last year

With three wins in his first six league games in charge at Selhurst Park, Pulis’ approach gave Palace fresh impetus following his initial appointment.

Be there!

DIRECTIONS

By private car: From Kwame Nkrumah Circle, use the Provident Insurance/Busy Internet road. Pass by the Standard Chartered Bank. At the Bus Stop Restaurant (same place as Eddies Pizza), Paloma Hotel is across the street. Champs Sports Bar is in the premises.

From 37, drive to the Ako Adjei  Overpass, take the GBC road and head past the King Tackie Tawiah Overpass. Drive past the Nima Police Station and the Total Filling Station. Paloma Hotel is the next building after the filling station, on your right.

By Trotro: From Kwame Nkrumah Circle, take any bus from the overhead bridge that is going to La/Osu/Madina/Nungua. Paloma Hotel is about 300 metres away and you’ll be charged 40 pesewas. Champs Sports Bar is in the premises.

From 37/La/Osu/Nungua, take a trotro that’s going to Circle or Kaneshie. Tell the conductor you’ll alight at the Silver Cup bus stop. Paloma Hotel is right there. It costs about 80 pesewas (from 37), one cedi (from Osu), two cedis (from Nungua).

By taxi: Tell the driver you are going to the Paloma Hotel. Use the Nima Police Station, Total Filling Station and/or Busy Internet as vantage points.

Directions using your phone.

If you are on Android or iOS, please click the image below. When it enlarges, scroll to find the numerous vantage points around the venue to guide you.

There will be giveaways and prizes from our sponsors – Samsung, MTN, Guinness and OLX.com.gh.

By: Gary Al-Smith/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @garyalsmith

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