Eintracht Frankfurt - Bayer Leverkusen 5-1
Both these sides boasted the unenviable record of conceding the most goals inside the opening 15 minutes in the division (4), and it was Frankfurt who were pushed strongly for an early lead here. Mario Götze fired wide, before Randal Kolo Muani had a golden chance when running through on goal, but Piero Hincapié made a brilliant recovery tackle to block the shot.
Oliver Glasner’s men were unbeaten in eight of the 11 games Kolo Muani has started this season and it was clear to see why as he continued to trouble the Leverkusen defence. As HT approached, he jinked past multiple defenders before driving at goal, forcing a fine stop from Lukáš Hrádecký.
Just as it appeared Xabi Alonso’s men would survive until the interval, Edmond Tapsoba committed a silly foul on Jesper Lindstrøm inside the area, conceding a penalty in the process. Kolo Muani was initially denied by Hrádecký, but the goalkeeper was off his line, meaning the spot-kick would need to be retaken. Daichi Kamada was drafted in and made no such mistake in giving the Eagles the lead at the break.
In truth, Alonso’s men barely threatened before HT, but took a little more than 10 second half minutes to level proceedings. Kerem Demirbay’s free-kick was met by a diving header from Hincapié, netting with Die Werkself’s first shot on target of the afternoon. Parity would last less than two minutes though as Frankfurt restored the lead almost immediately. After Tapsoba was dispossessed, Christopher Lenz’s cross was steered home by Kolo Muani, finally on the scoresheet with a stooping header of his own.
The hosts spurned two chances to double their advantage before finally scoring a third, seizing on a collapsing Leverkusen rearguard. After squandering possession cheaply once more, Lindstrøm sprinted beyond the visiting defence before finishing with an outrageous chip that brought the Deutsche Bank Park to its feet. Alonso’s men had more misery to endure though, as Hincapié tripped Kolo Muani inside the area to concede another penalty, receiving a second yellow card in the process. Kamada converted for the second time, before former Leverkusen forward Lucas Alario came off the bench to score a fifth for the Eagles. Frankfurt won a fifth consecutive H2H on home soil, dropping Leverkusen into the relegation places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Stuttgart - Bochum 4-1
As a result of a nine-game winless start to the Bundesliga season, Pellegrino Matarazzo was relieved of his duties as Stuttgart manager, and subsequently replaced by Michael Wimmer on a temporary basis. The interim boss would have been desperate for a positive start, but even he would have admitted that an early two-goal lead was the stuff of fairytales. Wimmer’s dreams were soon realised though, as Silas fired his side into the lead from the penalty spot after being brought down by Danilo Soares’ mist-timed challenge.
Not content with opening the scoring, Silas turned provider for Naouirou Ahamada, who kept his cool to place the ball into the bottom corner following a moment of poor goalkeeping from Manuel Riemann. It seemed as though all of Stuttgart’s wishes had come true, but the visitors dealt their opponents a harsh reality check before the half-hour mark, when Kevin Stöger’s accurate low cross evaded Florian Müller, but not Simon Zoller, who had the simple task of guiding the ball into the unguarded net.
Stuttgart may have taken a narrow lead into HT, but they were fortunate not to concede after the interval when a moment of indecision in the backline presented Gerrit Holtmann with a golden opportunity, which was firmly saved by Müller. After spurning the chance to draw level, Bochum’s hopes of a point were ended moments later when Silas drove the ball past Riemann, who could only get fingertips to the powerful effort.
With the three points secured, a fourth was quickly added by Wataru Endo, ensuring Stuttgart ended the afternoon having scored more goals in 71 minutes than had done in their previous five home league games this term. The hosts’ maiden victory lifts them out of the relegation zone, while Bochum have now lost their opening five away matches in the Bundesliga, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table
Flashscore Man of the Match: Silas (VfB Stuttgart)
Werder Bremen - Mainz 0-2
Having conceded first in three of their previous four matches prior to this weekend’s clash, Mainz needed just 36 first-half minutes to open the scoring, with Ingvartsen nodding home to put the visitors ahead. Danny da Costa’s deep cross found Ingvartsen at the back-post and the 26-year-old converted his first goal of the campaign to give Mainz an unlikely lead at the break.
After shipping the opener somewhat against the run of play, the Werder defence failed to learn from their first-half lesson, once again conceding a cheap goal midway through the second period. Skipping into the penalty area, evading the lax defensive efforts from the hosts’ backline, Lee squeezed a driven shot beyond Jiří Pavlenka, doubling Mainz’s advantage in the process.
Werder’s woes were summed up late on when Niklas Schmidt dragged a right-footed strike from inside the penalty area just wide of the far post. Frustration for the Bremen outfit, whose run without a clean sheet has now stretched to five Bundesliga outings. As for Mainz, the victory takes them level on points with their opponents, with the 05ers now just one point off the European positions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Danny da Costa (Mainz 05)
Wolfsburg - Monchengladbach 2-2
Perhaps inspired by their 750th Bundesliga win last matchday against Köln in the Rhine Derby – a match in which they scored 3+ goals for the first time this league season – Die Borussen displayed conviction in their style of play from the very outset. Despite ending up facing the first threat via Mickey van de Wen’s close-range header, the visitors took the lead via Marcus Thuram’s commendable solo effort minutes later from the left wing that he launched past Koen Casteels into the middle of the goal.
Seven of the last eight league games at the Volkswagen Arena witnessed a goal being scored within the first 25 minutes, and the hosts looked understandably distraught that it wasn’t to their name this time around. Daniel Farke’s first H2H couldn’t have begun any better, as Gladbach continued to probe for a second – but it was Wolfsburg who raised the stakes, and after Jakub Kaminski missed a sitter from point-blank range, they levelled proceedings thanks to Yannick Gerhardt’s clinically volleyed tap-in, following Paulo Otavio’s superb cross into the box.
It didn’t affect Gladbach in the least, as the Prussians found themselves back in the driving seat immediately once the game resumed. Thuram, once again, proved hard to handle in the Wolfsburg penalty area, with the Frenchman reacting quickly to a blocked shot to volley a drive into the left corner. Wolfsburg manager Niko Kovač introduced Omar Marmoush and Felix Nmecha on the hour mark with the intention of altering tactics, and it paid dividends 10 minutes later, when the former sublimely latched on to a cross with a deft first touch and struck an unstoppable drive past a helpless Yann Sommer to equalise.
The match entered its final minutes with both sides going toe-to-toe against one another – the closest of chances saw Ramy Bensebaini force Casteels into a wonderful save from a free-kick, before substitute Marmoush struck the top of the crossbar at the death. Nothing could separate the two in the end though, as Gladbach head back home now winless in five straight away league clashes. Despite lingering in the bottom half of the table, Marmoush’s stunning equaliser means that the Wolves have now lost just one of the last 18 home H2Hs.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
