1. FC Union Berlin – TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0:2 (0:2), 0:1 Andrej Kramaric (22nd, penalty), 0:2 Maximilian Beier (38th)
Isn’t Union Berlin this mythical creature that evades the cool logic of the football world? Urs Fischer’s team, so far immune to all the usual resistance in the industry, is actually in a real crisis. The late 1-0 defeat in their Champions League debut on Wednesday at Real Madrid had boosted morale, but weakened their legs. In the gray everyday life of the league, little or nothing worked against Hoffenheim.
The Italian Leonardo Bonucci, who was intended as a defensive stabilizer, caused a penalty on his league debut with a clumsy tug on Andrej Kramaric’s jersey. Even the most beautiful Italian it-was-nothing gestures didn’t help. The Hoffenheim striker scored himself (22nd). A TSG goal followed before half-time, which came in Union’s guise: long ball, pass into the middle, goal (Maximilian Beier/38th). The Unioners were also lucky because referee Aytekin called a foul outside the penalty area after VAR intervention.
As a result, the Union team had the ball a lot and tried hard, but Hoffenheim defended as diligently as Berlin usually does. Kevin Behrens almost managed to score after a moment of carelessness, but only almost. The crisis at Union is now official. (tbr)
FC Bayern Munich – VfL Bochum 7:0 (4:0), 1:0 Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (4th), 2:0 Harry Kane (12th), 3:0 Matthijs de Ligt (29th), 4 :0 Leroy Sané (38th), 5:0 Harry Kane (54th, penalty), 6:0 Mathys Tel (81st), 7:0 Harry Kane (89th)
The football world, one might sometimes think, turns faster than a carousel at the Oktoberfest: Former Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is now called national coach, and his former club, which was once strikerless, now has two full-blooded strikers.
The current Munich coach Thomas Tuchel naturally sent his finest sleuth Harry Kane on the hunt for goals against Bochum from the start. In addition to the Englishman, he didn’t have the recently up-and-coming Mathys Tel, but rather the experienced Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Quite a surprise, but any regular criticism of Tuchel’s trick quickly fell silent.
Because Choupo-Moting had two good chances; He placed a header too centrally (1st minute), but he couldn’t do much wrong with a counterattack via Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman: he just had to push the ball over the line to take the lead (4th). Shortly afterwards, Kane didn’t have a much more difficult time: when the ball landed at his feet from a Bochum leg, he routinely sent it over the goal line (12th).
The Bavarians, who had recently been a bit slow, seemed lively, as if they had spotted a lonely table at the Oktoberfest. And Tuchel was allowed to have a golden touch. Because he had also promoted reservist Matthijs de Ligt to the starting line-up. The central defender headed in a corner (from the much-maligned set-piece shooter Joshua Kimmich) to make it 3-0 (29′).
At this point at the latest, one could ask whether the people of Bochum had only come to Munich to attend the Oktoberfest. The fact that they revealed gaps everywhere on the pitch in Sané’s 4-0 win didn’t speak against it. There was no fear of a rebellion after the break either. Kane scored from a penalty to make it 5-0 and later 7-0, and of course Mathys Tel, who came on as a substitute, also scored (to make it 6-0). His last real trick. (tbr)
Borussia Dortmund – VfL Wolfsburg 1:0 (0:0), 1:0 Marco Reus (69.)
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A stumble without consequences: Marco Reus (bottom middle) is only on the ground for a short time after his goal against Wolfsburg, BVB wins.
(Photo: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)
It was shaping up to be a difficult afternoon for Dortmund: the clear Champions League defeat against Paris was still in the back of their minds and Wolfsburg were now in form and extremely unpleasant defensively. Apart from a finely angled free kick from Marco Reus early in the game, BVB did not find any dangerous means against the usual disciplined team of VfL coach Niko Kovac. The Wolfsburg team hardly contributed anything offensively to the attractiveness of the game. A quick switch situation after Dortmund lost the ball was unsuccessful.
There was initially little change in the playing structure after the break. But BVB was rewarded for its patience: after just over an hour, Marco Reus was ready at the end of a well-considered move and converted a low cross from Julian Brandt from the left to take the lead. Dortmund then limited themselves to securing victory. VfL failed to turn on the offensive switch. BVB stays on top. (jowe)
Borussia Mönchengladbach – RB Leipzig 0:1 (0:0), 0:1 Timo Werner (75.)
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Game-deciding scene: Shortly after being substituted, Timo Werner goes around Gladbach goalkeeper Nicolas and scores for Leipzig’s away win.
(Photo: Vitalii Kliuiev/Imago)
It hasn’t been an easy few weeks for Leipzig striker Timo Werner. He was not nominated for the national team, and instead of support from his club coach, Marco Rose understood the decision of former national coach Hansi Flick. Not surprising, after all, Werner has often sat on the bench at Leipzig – including initially in Gladbach.
Werner was only allowed to put on his jersey in the 70th minute. And it only took five minutes before the striker gave the decisive direction to this encounter. After a nice pass from Xavi Simons, Werner circled around Gladbach’s goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, the keeper even got his fingertips to the ball, but was no longer able to significantly disrupt Werner. The Leipzig player shot from a tight angle, the ball landed on the inside post, bounced from there into the side of Gladbach’s Nico Elvedi and from there into the goal.
With a gesture that apparently meant something like “Stay calm!” Werner, who had recently come under heavy pressure, celebrated his goal. Up to this point, Borussia had actually presented themselves well in a tough encounter and could have taken the lead themselves. Nathan Ngoumou had a dangerous finish in stoppage time. However, his shot over the goal sealed the hard-fought away win for Leipzig. (jowe)
FC Augsburg – 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:1 (2:1), 0:1 Ludovic Ajorque (6th), 1:1 and 2:1 Ermedin Demirovic (15th and 45th)
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Mainly responsible for the first win of the season: FCA striker Ermedin Demirovic (left) scores twice against Mainz.
(Foto: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)
A duel between two crisis clubs: Mainz has been waiting for a win for nine games across the season. FC Augsburg was only able to win one of the last 15 Bundesliga games. At the beginning of the game, however, only Mainz gave the impression that they were aware of the explosive nature of this encounter. After just six minutes they were leading: an unchallenged cross from Danny da Costa, an unchallenged (but also beautifully placed) header from Ludovic Ajorque – 0-1. Shortly afterwards, only a delicate offside position from Stefan Bell saved Augsburg from falling further behind.
The hosts muddled their way into the game, emblematic of the surprising equalizer by Ermedin Demirovic, who poked the ball into the goal after a quarter of an hour. Afterwards there were a lot of duels, a lot of ball losses and hardly any clear moves from either team. Shortly before half-time, FCA turned the game around: After a long throw-in, defender Patric Pfeiffer brought the ball to Demirovic with a double header, who executed it completely freely – a naive defensive sequence from Mainz.
The hosts got themselves into trouble after about an hour. Midfielder Arne Engels was shown red for serious foul play, referee Marco Fritz initially showed a yellow card, but was then told by VAR to take another look at the scene. However, when they had the majority, the Mainz team had little to think of other than a lot of high balls into the penalty area. In stoppage time, Ajorque received a sharp cross that was not on target. The Augsburg team secured their first win of the season. (jowe)
Werder Bremen – 1. FC Köln 2:1 (1:1), goals: 0:1 Selke (31st), 1:1 Borre (38th), 2:1 Njinmah (67th)
Werder Bremen achieved an important victory in the Bundesliga. Coach Ole Werner’s team won 2-1 (1-1) over 1. FC Köln on Saturday evening. In front of 42,100 spectators in the Weserstadion, substitute Justin Njinmah (67th minute) scored the winning goal for Werder with his first touch of the ball. After former Bremen player Davie Selke (31′) had given the guests the lead, Rafael Borré (38′) equalized. After their second win of the season, Werder improved to tenth place in the table with six points, Cologne is in the relegation zone with one point, level on points with Darmstadt and Mainz. (dpa)
