Dortmund - Stuttgart 5-0
After winning his opening two games as Stuttgart’s interim boss, Michael Wimmer may have been quietly confident about the chances of overseeing a third consecutive victory against a Dortmund side who had failed to win any of their previous three league games. However, the visitors’ hopes of claiming a much-needed away victory all but dissipated within the opening 13 minutes. Jude Bellingham set the hosts on their way when he swept home from Niklas Sule’s low cross to register his first league goal of the season.
Not content with providing an assist for the opener, Dortmund’s makeshift right-back added his own name to the scoresheet, producing a composed finish to guide Giovanni Reyna’s teasing free-kick beyond Florian Muller.
Sule’s first goal for the club gave the hosts complete control of the contest, but they had to be patient in their search for a third. After a number of promising chances, Dortmund finally added to their tally moments before half-time, as Reyna opened his account for the campaign with a clinical finish from the left side of the box.
The 15-minute interval may have offered Stuttgart respite from the Dortmund onslaught, but it did nothing to half the home side’s momentum. Similar to the first period, BVB flew out the blocks and within eight minutes of the restart, netting a fourth as Bellingham secured his brace. The England international collected possession just outside the box, set the ball out of his feet, and drilled a powerful shot past the outstretched Muller. Stuttgart’s miserable afternoon was compounded when a slick Dortmund move was tapped into the empty net by the unmarked Youssoufa Moukoko to round off a commanding team performance.
Dortmund’s perfect day was capped off when Luca Pfeiffer’s late strike was ruled out for offside, ensuring the hosts claimed their fourth home clean sheet of the Bundesliga season. The defeat drops Stuttgart into the bottom three and highlights their need for a permanent manager.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Hoffenheim - Bayern 0-2
Bayern had scored 14 goals in their previous three games in all competitions prior to kick-off, and they were eager for more at the PreZero Arena. To say they were dominant in the first half would be an understatement and, with some more clinical finishing, it could well have been a cricket score at the interval.
Oliver Baumann’s impressive display also thwarted the visitors on many an occasion, with the German goalkeeper producing important saves to deny Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry twice apiece and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kingsley Coman once each.
The Bavarians did find a way past the shot-stopper on two occasions, though. First, starlet Jamal Musiala fired home from close range after a Goretzka header from a corner found him unmarked at the back post, before Choupo-Moting brilliantly dispatched Gnabry’s cross.
Early on this campaign, the Roten struggled without a natural centre-forward to lead the line following the departure of Robert Lewandowski and, while Cameroon international Choupo-Moting may not be the most glamorous replacement, he provides a physical presence up front that Julian Nagelsmann’s side otherwise lack. Although Hoffenheim were second-best for much of the opening period, Georginio Rutter was a bright spark, twice forcing Sven Ulreich into action, while Grischa Prömel also had a shot saved by the Manuel Neuer stand-in.
The game was played at a much slower pace after the interval. Possessing a comfortable advantage, Bayern appeared happy to allow their opponents the opportunity to ask questions, which they ultimately seldom did. Baumann was again the busiest of the two number ones, saving from Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano efforts, although he was not put under as much pressure as in the first half. Rutter again showed glimpses of his promise, but neither he nor any of his teammates truly tested Ulreich for the remainder of the encounter.
The victory sees Bayern move within one point of Union Berlin, although the league leaders do not play until Sunday afternoon at Bochum. Hoffenheim, meanwhile, have now won just one of their last five matches in the Bundesliga, and André Breitenreiter will be eager to retrieve the quality they showed at the start of the campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Bayern Munich)
Augsburg - RB Leipzig 3-3
Meetings between these two sides have averaged three goals per game in the previous three seasons, and both teams showed early intent, although the biggest scare for either goalkeeper came when Josko Gvardiol’s header almost went past Janis Blaswich. There was also plenty of heated competition, with Andre Silva and Mergim Berisha both getting booked for their overzealous approach to winning aerial duels.
Having become disjointed, the match was crying out for some quality, and Emil Forsberg provided it with a clever one-two to open up the space for a shot, although Tomas Koubek denied him. It was poor defending from David Raum that eventually resulted in the opener shortly after the half-hour mark, as he flew through the back of Ruben Vargas to concede a penalty that Berisha coolly converted.
Ermedin Demirovic doubled the hosts’ lead just six minutes into the second period, being given the freedom of the visitors’ box to head home Berisha’s corner. This was likely a particularly satisfying goal for the Bosnian, providing redemption after he had been unable to convert the decisive penalty in the DFB Pokal final against Die Roten last term.
Just after the hour mark, Ruben Vargas latched onto another Berisha set-piece delivery and clinically finished for his first league goal of the season. Iago then made things more difficult for his side for two bookable offences on Xaver Schlager in quick succession. Silva tapped home Willi Orban’s pass to give the visitors hope, and Christopher Nkunku then made things uncomfortable with his 89th-minute free-kick, setting up a tense finale.
But miraculously for the visitors, Hugo Novoa Ramos popped up just one minute later to earn Die Roten Bullen a point, which will certainly take the edge off them still awaiting their first await Bundesliga win of the season. Meanwhile, Augsburg were left understandably frustrated after enduring a fourth consecutive game without victory.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mergim Berisha (Augsburg)
Leverkusen - Wolfsburg 2-2
Owing to their cup exit early in the season, Xabi Alonso had a full week on the training pitch to work with his beleaguered players, still licking their wounds after being on the receiving end of a 5-1 mauling at Eintracht Frankfurt last time out. An early penalty appeared to be the best way to heal some of those scars, but Moussa Diaby, who had won it himself, dragged his effort wide from 12 yards. Incredibly, Die Werkself have failed to convert any of the three spot-kicks they’ve been awarded this term.
The Frenchman quickly atoned for his error, utilising his electric pace to sprint beyond the defence before slotting underneath Koen Casteels. Diaby has now directly contributed to four of his side’s six goals under their new manager, with his strike today the 2500th Leverkusen have netted in Bundesliga history.
The hosts’ lead would be eliminated in comical fashion though, as Robert Andrich rushed towards his own goal and in trying to clear the danger, inadvertently looped the ball over Lukas Hradecky to gift Wolfsburg an equaliser.
Wolfsburg boss Niko Kovac has never lost to any side as many times as he has to Leverkusen in his managerial career, but the early stages of the second half showed he was determined to put that right. The visitors won a penalty after a reckless challenge from Edmond Tapsoba, allowing Maximilian Arnold to emphatically finish from 12 yards and put his side ahead.
Die Werkself were struggling to gain any positive momentum going forward, but a moment of inspiration from substitute Daley Sinkgraven earned his side an equaliser. The Dutchman dribbled his way into the area before his poorly hit shot looked to be drifting wide, only to be tapped in at the back post by Jeremie Frimpong.
Late pressure from the hosts to find a winner lacked the quality to break through a stubborn Wolfsburg rearguard, meaning the home side on the day has failed to win this head-to-head in any of the last 13 meetings. The Wolves are now unbeaten in five matches in all competitions and have avoided defeat on each of their last seven visits to the BayArena.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg)
Freiburg - Werder Bremen 2-0
With these sides separated by just three points going into the match, few were surprised to see an evenly-matched start. But Bremen found themselves a man down just before the quarter-hour mark, with visiting captain Marco Friedl shown a straight red card for an X-rated challenge outside the box. Vincenzo Grifo fired at goal from the free kick, with a deflection finding Kiliann Sildillia unmarked and onside with only the keeper to beat, but the Frenchman fired inches wide.
Despite being given such an early boost, Freiburg were unable to craft much in the way of clear-cut opportunities, with Bremen showing the type of resilience that saw them go into this clash as the league’s only undefeated away side. With the aim of exploiting the situation, Freiburg manager Christian Streich brought Ritsu Doan on in place of Yannik Keitel at the start of the second period.
The Italian took just nine second-half minutes to make an impact, Lukas Kubler broke through the Bremen backline, and Grifo played a brilliant pass to his teammate, who struck with great composure into the bottom left corner of Jiří Pavlenka’s net. Now with a lead to show for their numerical advantage, victory seemed inevitable, with the Breisgau-Brasilianer staying firmly on top and locking out a very isolated Bremen attack.
And the game was up ten minutes from time, when Felix Agu clumsily fouled his man inside the area. A crystal clear penalty was taken on by Grifo, who fired home down the middle with conviction to seal the points. The victory moves Freiburg back into third place, following their sixth consecutive Bundesliga home success over newly-promoted opposition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vincenzo Grifo (SC Freiburg)
