It's Round and It's White
Charlotte Rimmington rounds up the action from Match Day 3 of the Bundesliga.
‘Geh Deinen Weg’. ‘Go your way’, the message that replaced team shirt sponsors on matchday three of the fiftieth Bundesliga season. This was a campaign created to promote integration in Germany and where better than on a stage where successful integration is evident within the Bundesliga.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night at the SGL Arena where FC Augsburg held VfL Wolfsburg to a scoreless draw, a welcome first point of the season for FC Augsburg who defended deeply for the majority of the match. The effect of the international break was evident and neither team seemed to want to push for the three points.
VfB Stuttgart also secured their first point of the season with a goalless draw against Fortuna Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf will have been disappointed to have not pushed on for a win after their strong start to the season but will be pleased to see their Goals Against column remain empty.
Szabolcs Huszti scored twice, had one assist and was given a second yellow for over celebrating in a thrilling 3-2 win for Hannover 96 at home against Werder Bremen. Despite a converted penalty from Aaron Hunt and a Kevin De Bruyne goal, Bremen could not beat Hannover 96.
Despite a battling performance from Greuther Fürth, FC Schalke 04 were the winners at the Trolli Arena. Goals from Julian Draxler and Lewis Holtby in the second half sealed the win for the visitors who are now fourth in the table.
FC Bayern Munich made it nine points out of a possible nine with a 3-1 win over FSV Mainz 05. Bayern’s new forty million euro man Javi Martinez was brought on for the last fifteen minutes and gave a hint of his what we can expect to see for the rest of the season. Goals from Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Mandzukic handed Munich the win with a consolation goal from Adam Szalai in the 59th minute for 1. FSV Mainz 05.
The surprise team of the season thus far with three wins from three is Eintracht Frankfurt who continued their run with a 3-2 win against Hamburger SV on Sunday evening. Frankfurt were two goals to the good within eighteen minutes through goals from Takashi Inui and Olivier Occean. Despite Heiko Westermann pulling a goal back just before half time for Hamburg, they finished the half with ten men following Petr Jiracek’s red card in injury time. Stefan Aigner restored Frankfurt’s two goal advantage in the 52nd minute before Heung-Min Son pulled one goal back for Hamburg in the 63rd minute. One positive for Hamburg can be drawn from Rafael van der Vaart’s performance who will undoubtedly be central to their campaign this season.
1.FC Nuremberg started off the strongest against Borussia Mönchengladbach and were 2-0 up within twenty five minutes. Summer signing Luuk de Jong scored his first goal for Gladbach before half time followed just after half time by Granit Xhaka who equalised for the home team. However Kiyotake struck for the visitors just two minutes later to take the lead. Despite countless opportunities by Gladbach to get at least a point, Nuremberg held out for all three points.
Borussia Dortmund extended their unbeaten record to 31 matches this weekend and will be full of confidence going into the group stages of the Champions League this week. A convincing win with goals from Hummels, Blaszczykowski and Lewandowski see the defending Bundesliga champions in fifth position in the table.
Sunday afternoon saw an eight goal thriller in the Mage Solar Stadion with the hosts running out eventual 5-3 winners over 1899 Hoffenheim. Delpierre got the visitors off and running with a goal in the second minute before Freiburg’s Guede equalised in the seventeenth minute. Freiburg went into the interval in the lead with a twenty seventh minute goal by Kruse. Despite Freiburg dominating possession at the start of the second half, it was Vukcevic who levelled the score for Hoffenheim in the fifty seventh minute. Freiburg took the lead once again through a poorly cleared corner but Hoffenheim replied less than ten minutes later through Usami. However Freibury were not finished and scored two late goals to secure the win over Hoffenheim.
At the end of a matchday three that saw 32 goals, FC Bayern Munich remain on top of the table closely followed by Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover 96, whilst Hamburger SV and 1899 Hoffenheim occupy the bottom of the table with VfB Stuttgart in the relegation play off place.
