Uberprufung der Bundesliga: Gladbach recover late on, Augsburg lose home record, Bayern’s woes deepened

Matchday 7 of the Bundesliga threw a couple of interesting fixtures and fascinating situations. Bayern Munich travelled to Berlin on Sunday without a figurehead in the dugout after sacking Carlo Ancelotti in midweek. Borussia Dortmund were looking to recover a disappointing loss to Real Madrid in the Champions league. At the end of the table, Cologne hosted Red Bull Leipzig in a positive mood, following the acquirement of their first point of the season in a fighting performance in Hannover last week. It was sure to be another entertaining round of games in the Bundesliga.

Schalke 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen

The weekend’s action began in Gelsenkirchen on Friday night, where Schalke welcomed Bayer Leverkusen after being beaten 2-0 in Hoffenheim last week. In contrast Leverkusen humbled Hamburg 3-0 at the BayArena to ease pressure on Heiko Herrlich. The deadlock was broken in this tight game on 31 minutes when Barcelona target, Leon Goretzka, opened the scoring with a sublime free kick. However his opener was cancelled out on the hour mark when Leon Bailly’s deflected effort found its way beyond Ralf Fahrmann to claim a point for the away side.

Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 Hannover

Hannover’s impressive start to the season has started to hit the skids as of late, characterised by their 0-0 draw at home to bottom side Cologne last week. Gladbach have had mixed fortunes themselves which were compounded by an embarrassing 6-1 defeat at the hands of rivals Borussia Dortmund at Singal Iduna Park last Sunday. Both were looking to get back to winning ways and it was the home side who drew first blood here through Matthias Ginter on 67 minutes. The lead didn’t last long however as Martin Harnik drew Hannover level four minutes later. It looked like the game was heading towards a draw until Salif Sane fouled Enzo Grifo in the area and a penalty was given via the video referee. It was Thorgan Hazard who stepped up to score a secure a late, dramatic win for Dieter Hecking’s men.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 VfB Stuttgart

Eintracht Frankfurt were looking to turn around their fortunes following a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Red Bull Leipzig last week, whereas Stuttgart will have been looking to build on a credible draw against in-form Augsburg. It was the home side who opened the scoring here however through Ante Rebic just after half-time. Simon Terodde equalised from a Dennis Aogo corner on the hour and Stuttgart’s chances of a victory were increased four minutes later when Terrode was fouled by Simon Falette, who was sent off for the offence. Frankfurt refused to be beaten though and won the game themselves when Sebastien Haller scored a header in the 93rd minute to seal an unlikely win.

Augsburg 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

Augsburg went into this one looking to prolong their early season form and unbeaten home record, having last lost at the SGL Arena in April. Dortmund, having conceded their first league goal of the season last week against Gladbach, were hoping to recover from a resounding 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid on Tuesday night at home. All the goals were scored in the first half an hour of this game, with Dortmund taking the lead through Andriy Yarmolenko on 4 minutes. Caiuby equalised on 11 minutes to give the home side hope, but Shinji Kagawa ultimately won the game on 23 minutes and keep Peter Bosz’s side top of the Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg 1-1 Mainz

Both these sides picked up positive results last week, with Wolfsburg picking up a points at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich and Mainz beating Hertha Berlin 1-0 at home. Wolfsburg took the lead here however through Josh Guillavogi. A welcome goal even it did take 55 minutes to come. Yoshinori Muto equalised on 74 minutes to bring Mainz back into the game. Paul-Georges N’Tep was sent off for Wolfsburg in stoppage time for a second yellow card following a bad foul, but Mainz weren’t able to capitalise on their man advantage and the game finished all square.

Hamburg 0-0 Werder Bremen

Saturday’s late kick off came from Hamburg, well beaten 3-0 at the BayArena last time out, where Werder Bremen were the visitors. Both sides had chances to win this one in a game that was dominated by Hamburg. The home side had 17 shots on goal and 55% of the possession. However their dominance wasn’t rewarded and they finished goalless as both went home with a point.

Freiburg 3 – 2 Hoffenheim

Sunday’s action began in Freiburg, who shared the points with Werder Bremen last week to the tune of a 0-0 draw. Hoffenheim have started the season well and were looking to build on their impressive 2-0 defeat of Schalke at home last Saturday. After a nervy first ten minutes for both sides, the game burst into life when Robin Hack put Hoffenheim ahead on 14 minutes. A minute later Freiburg were level through Florian Niederlechner and took the lead on 18 minutes through Caglar Soyuncu’s header. Hoffenheim controlled the possession but were being caught out on the break, and were punished on 87 minutes when Pascal Stenzel effectively won the game for the home side. Julian Schuster put through his own net two minutes into added on time to give Hoffenheim hope but they couldn’t add to their extra consolations goal, thus without any points.

Hertha Berlin 2 – 2 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich travelled to the capital with Willy Sagnol at the helm after sacking Carlo Ancelotti following their 3-0 thumping at the hands of Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Hertha will have been hoping they could capitalise on uncertainty in Bavaria, especially as they were looking to recover from a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mainz last week. Bayern’s woes were quickly forgotten though when Mats Hummels put them ahead in the tenth minute. It took Robert Lewandowski until the 49th minute to double their lead and put Bayern seemingly on the road to victory. However Ondrej Duda scored two minutes later to put Bayern’s three points in jeopardy and Salomon Kalou completed the comeback on 56 minutes to ensure the spoils were shared.

Cologne 1 – 2 Red Bull Leipzig

Cologne still sat at the foot of the Bundesliga at the beginning of this game but will have been encouraged after picking up their first point of the season in a 0-0 draw away to Hannover last week. Red Bull Leipzig have had a steady start to the season and put in a battling display to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 at home on matchday 6. It was Leipzig who opened the scoring here through Lukas Klostermann after half an hour. The game remained open throughout and looked to be over when Yussuf Poulsen doubled Leipzig’s lead in the 80th minute. Yuya Osako pulled a goal back two minutes later to ensure an entertaining end but it was to no avail, as the away side claimed all the points.

Round 8 Fixtures

Friday 13th October

VfB Stuttgart vs. Cologne (19.30)

Saturday 14th October

Bayern Munich vs. Freiburg (14.30)

Hannover vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

Hertha Berlin vs. Schalke

Hoffenheim vs. Augsburg

Mainz vs. Hamburg

Borussia Dortmund vs. Red Bull Leipzig (17.30)

Sunday 15th October

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg (14.30)

Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach (17.00)