Bundesblog: Hamburg win two from two, Hannover surprise Schalke plus all the ups & downs from matchday two
Friday night saw Hamburg jump to the top of the table for a brief while as they stunned the home crowd at 1.FC Koln. Andre Hahn opened things up for the away side followed up by a quick fire double from Bobby Wood. Koln never looked like giving much more to the game until stoppage time when Frederik Sörensen pulled one back from the home side. The game was put to bed right at the finish when Lewis Holtby confirmed all three points for Hamburg as they went to the top of the table, who’d have thought it?
In my predicted game of the week, Leverkusen and Hoffenheim faced off with both sides looking for an improvement following recent defeats to Bayern and Liverpool respectively. Wendell opened the scoring for the home side but it was swiftly cancelled out just after half time thanks to Andrej Kramaric. However, things were short lived as Karim Bellarabi put the home side in front for the second time in the game. That was until Mark Uth popped up again, as he has done so so often recently, grabbing an impressive point for Nagelsmann’s side.
Augsburg saw a stunning start against Gladbach as Alfred Finnbogason put the home side ahead within the opening minute, stunning Gladbach to complete silence. Although this rallied the Foals and it only took 7 minutes until they were level again, Denis Zakaria got the all important equalizer. By the 30 minute mark, Gladbach was ahead, thanks to Oscar Wendt. Gladbach continued to look impressive and it was only until the final minute when Augsburg’s Sergio Cordova leveled the game.
Stuttgart’s new signing Holger Badstuber got the all important goal in a 1-0 victory over the continually struggling FSV Mainz. This was a great victory for the newly promoted side as it lifts them following their opening day defeat. For Mainz though I don’t really know where to begin. They looked hopeless and with no real goal threat, my concerns grow deeper. They are a great club but even at this early stage, I can’t see good things for them this season. They hung on to their position in the Bundesliga by the skin of their teeth and don’t seem to have added much quality to their squad. Add that with an unproven manager and I’m sorry Mainz fans but I don’t think it’s going to end well.
Frankfurt’s goalless start continues as Wolfsburg grabbed a 0-1 thanks to Daniel Didavi. With all the attention surrounding Kevin Prince-Boateng at Frankfurt, it somewhat deflected the fact they had an important home game against Wolfsburg coming up. Frankfurt lacked any real purpose and will need to turn things around quickly as they don’t want to get into the cycle of not winning like they did during the Rückrunde last campaign.
Bayern managed to do what they do best, win games. Robert Lewandowski grabbed a brace late on the confirm the three points away to Werder Bremen who haven’t had the best of starts so far, although, it’s definitely not as bad as last seasons start. The match also saw the return from injury to superstar goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer following his long spell on the injury table.
Borussia Dortmund got over their transfer debacle with Ousmane Dembele and put in a performance that has made all sides in the Bundesliga really take notice. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring following by a brilliant strike from Nuri Sahin to give BVB a 2-0 win over hapless Hertha. The thing that was so impressive for Dortmund was the pace and fluidity of their attacks. They were convincing at the back and how often in the last few years has that been said about Dortmund? With every tackle or interception won, the transition from defense into attack was at lightning speed and that’s without Dembele. We are starting to see Bosz’s influence on the side even at this early stage. It is lining up a very interesting title race.
Florian Niederlechner put Freiburg ahead during the first half at Leipzig as they and the impressive Marc-Oliver Kempf kept Leipzig under control. That was until the second half when a brace from Timo Werner and goals from Willi Orban and a special strike from Bruma saw the home side end up 4-1 winners. The turn around was impressive with Naby Keita at the heart of things once again. That in light of reports are circulating that a move has been agreed with Liverpool to acquire his services. At the point of writing this nothing has been confirmed but that soon may change.
Hannover continue their winning ways as Jonathas goal saw off Schalke, who were very impressive in their victory against Leipzig last week. That’s two wins from two from the newly promoted side and two clean sheets to go with it. Now I predicted Hannover to go down in a highly competitive battle, at this early stage I will stick by my choice but I may wish to reconsider if this kind of form continues. As for Schalke, they looked much like the inconsistent side that we saw last season, something I’m sure Tedesco will want to irradicate.
So, Dortmund leads the pack following matchday 2 with Bayern, Hamburg, and Hannover all snipping behind them. At the foot of the table, Mainz, Koln and Werder Bremen are cemented with no points recorded yet, with the international break coming so early, this will give these clubs a chance to regroup and kick start their seasons.
