German Bundesliga: Weekend Roundup and Results – Part 1
A total of eight matches were played over the weekend in Bundesliga; five matches were played on Saturday and three were played on Sunday.
On Friday, there was a 0-0 draw between Hamburger SV and Bundesliga Champions Bayern Munich at the Imtech Arena.
Then on Saturday there were five matches played; Borussia M’gladbach lost at home to Werder Bremen 4-1, FC Nuremberg won 2-1 against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt drew 0-0 with FC Schalke 04, SC Freiburg beat FC Kaiserslautern
2-1 and the last match of the day saw Hannover 96 won 2-1 against FC Koln.
The three matches that were played on Sunday saw a 1-1 draw between Borussia Dortmund and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart achieved 2-0 victory over FC St. Pauli and the last match of the week saw FSV Mainz 05 managing a 1-0
away win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
Mainz reached the top of the table after Borussia Dortmund drew and Hannover climbed to third place after Hoffenheim’s draw.
However, the relegation zone has FC Koln (bottom) with Borussia M’gladbach and Schalke 04 as the other two teams.
Reigning Champions Bayern Munich, 11th in the table, are already 12 points behind the leaders Mainz.
The biggest result, no doubt was Mainz’s win which saw them top the league standings. The O-Fives appear to be going strong at the moment and their rivals will need to up their game in order to put some pressure on them.
Although Mainz got back on track in the league, the rest continued to endure a slow start to the campaign.
The draw between Red Shorts and Bayern did not favour any of them as they both slipped further behind the league leaders. Both teams had a really poor start in the league this season, with Hamburger already 9 points behind managing
only three shots on target. They were unlucky though as the ball hit the post on one occasion.
Bayern are not showing the form they showed last year; already 12 points adrift they seem to be lacking the quality going forward. Only one shot on target is what they achieved in entire game.
Saturday saw Schalke’s misery continue, despite a win in the Champions League in midweek. Felix Magath’s side had to settle for just a point from the scoreless away draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. The result left the team third
from bottom in the relegation zone, and with pressure mounting on the manager to perform sooner rather than later.
Wolfsburg are having a torrid time away from home, after going down 2-1 to Nuremberg. The home side took the lead courtesy Ilkay Gundogan, but Wolfsburg were soon to level terms with their 1st chance of the game, in
the 28th minute via Brazilian striker Grafite. The goal was his sixth in six starts this season.
But The Past Master took advantage of Wolfsburg’s fragility in defence in the second half and soon restored their lead on the 63rd minute mark through midfielder Mike Frantz.
Despite having 55% possession and a handful of chances in the game, they couldn’t find a way through. It was a seesaw battle, till the final minute as both teams came close to scoring. The game saw a dramatic finale as Wolfsburg almost managed to score an equalizer
just to see Grafite’s effort judged offside by the referee.
The result has taken the home side above the Wolves into the 12th spot. Former England manager Steve McClaren’s team meanwhile remains fourteen points off the top spot.
From a neutral’s perspective, the table certainly makes interesting reading, with only 6 points separating Wolfsburg (13th), from Hannover 96 (3rd).
A double strike inside the first 15 minutes by Didier Konan Ya settled Hannover and maintained their 2-0 lead until the 85th minute when Martin Lanig of FC Koln managed a consolation goal. The Billy Goats had an incredible
61% possession in the game but were unable to penetrate the Hannover defence.
It was a well deserved win for the Reds who leapfrogged Hoffenheim into 3rd spot in the table whilst Koln dropped to bottom place. They are now favourites to get relegated even at such an early stage.
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