Japanese Players in Europe

Borussia Dortmund look set to retain their Bundesliga title, after beating local rivals Schalke 2-1. Goals from Lukasz Pisczek and Sebastian Kehl were enough to overturn an early stunner from Jefferson Farfan. Shinji Kagawa played the entire match. Atsuto Uchida started and was substituted for Ciprian Marica in the 85th minute. The victory, coupled with Bayern’s 0-0 draw at home to Mainz, puts Dortmund eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, with three matches to go. Highlights.

Ryo Miyaichi came off the bench for Chris Eagles in Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle. The defeat put Bolton in the relegation zone along with Wolves and Blackburn, though they have played two fewer than QPR who are a point above them. Wolves will surely go down, so the fight to avoid the other two places will be between Bolton, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan, and Aston Villa. Bolton face Villa away in two weeks time.

Gotoku Sakai played the entire match as Stuttgart beat Bremen 4-1. Christian Gentner, Martin Harnik, and Cacau scored as Stuttgart came back to win emphatically. The win solidifies their hold on fifth place and a place in next year’s Europa League. Sakai set up the fourth with a well-delivered freekick, which Cacau headed in. Shinji Okazaki came on for the final ten minutes, after missing over a month through injury. Highlights.