It's Round and It's White
Charlotte Rimmington rounds up the action from Bundesliga Match Day 4.
Following a week that saw six Bundesliga teams play in the Champions League or Europa League, the Bundesliga was back with a bang.
Eintracht Frankfurt kicked off the fourth weekend of the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win over Nurnberg. The newly promoted side made it four wins from four games in a start to the season that has only been matched by Bayern Munich this year. Erwin Hoffer opened the scoring in the 25th minute for Frankfurt despite the home team starting strongly. Takashi Inui doubled the lead with a 60th minute strike, Sebastian Polter then gave the home side a lifeline by pulling a goal back in the 76th minute but Frankfurt held on to their lead to remain in second place in the table.
Bayern Munich made it 12 points from a possible 12 with a 2-0 win at the Veltins Arena against FC Schalke 04. Goals from Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller broke the deadlock in the second half and ensured that Munich stayed top of the table.
Hamburger SV ended Borussia Dortmund’s 31 game unbeaten streak by beating the defending Bundesliga champions 3-2 at the HSV Arena. The home side went into the half time break 1-0 in front thanks to a 2nd minute header from Heung-Min Son. Dortmund equalised through a Perisic goal in the 46th minute before Hamburg regained the lead with a goal from Ilicevic in the 55th minute and a second goal from Son in the 59th minute. Despite Perisic scoring again for Dortmund in the 60th minute, the home side held out to take their first three points of the season.
Fortuna Dusseldorf made it four consecutive clean sheets in the Bundesliga with a 0-0 draw at home against SC Freiburg. Despite both teams attacking positively, neither team could convert their chances into goals.
FC Augsburg made it four games without a win following a 2-0 defeat away at 1.FSV Mainz 05. Goals from Andreas Ivanschitz in the 10th minute and Adam Szalai in the 25th minute ensured that the home side took all three points.
It was all square at the Volkswagen Arena as VfL Wolfsburg drew 1-1 with Greuther Fürth. The visitors were gifted the lead in the 27th minute with a Emanuel Pogatez own goal before Ivica Olic equalised for the home side in the 42nd minute.
Despite countless second half chances for Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach held the home team to a 1-1 draw at the BayArena. Gladbach opened the scoring in the 3rd minute through a Patrick Herrmann goal assisted by the ever present Juan Arango. The home side equalised less than ten minutes later through a Michal Kadlec shot.
1899 Hoffenheim beat Hannover 96 2-1 with two late goals from Sejad Salihovic and Daniel Williams at the Rhein-Neckar Arena. An own goal by Delpierre in the 26th minute gave the visitors an early lead. The home side were behind for less than a minute as Fabian Johnson’s strike into the bottom right corner of the goal levelled the score. Salihovic’s header and Williams’ 90th minute strike ensured a Hoffenheim win.
Both teams ended the match with ten men as Werder Bremen threw away a two goal advantage to draw 2-2 with VfB Stuttgart at the Weserstadion. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring for the home team with a 23rd minute strike. Zlatko Junuzovic doubled Bremen’s lead eleven minutes later and ensured Bremen went into the break two goals to the good. A 50th minute goal from Martin Harnik and 80th minute goal from Cacau brought the visitors back into the match. Both teams were fighting for the three points with Harnik getting a second yellow and Lukimya receiving a straight red in the final moments of the match.
At the end of Match Day 4, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt topped the table with four wins out of four and VfB Stuttgart and FC Augsburg occupied the relegation places with no wins so far this season. The next round of Bundesliga matches are on Tuesday and Wednesday this week with high fliers Eintracht Frankfurt playing defending champions Borussia Dortmund.
