Another flurry of Bundesliga action was upon us this weekend. Initially, not many of the fixtures looked to be very interesting, but some of the results definitely were. If you missed them, Sports Talk United is here to talk you through the highlights:
Hamburg get their first goals and win of the season
Hamburger SV got off on the wrong foot in their first three Bundesliga matches, failing to score in all of them. Not to mention losing their first Bundesliga Hamburg Derby since 2011 at home to St. Pauli. They drew 0 – 0 with Monchengladbach in the first game of the season. Last weekend was arguably worse than the derby for die Rothosen as they were thrashed 5 – 0 by Bayern.
This weekend, however, was a different story. They faced Heidenheim in the Volksparkstadion, and they were keen put an end to their three-game goalless streak. Two close-range goals by Man of the Match Luka Vuskovic in the 42nd minute and Rayan Philippe in the 59th minute ended HSV’s goal drought. A late goal by Heidenheim’s Adam Kölle kept Hamburg from a cleansheet, but a win was good enough for Merlin Polzin’s men. It was a frantic game on both sides, with a total of 42 shots from both teams combined.
All eyes now lie on Heidenheim who sit at the bottom of the table, with 4 losses in 4 games.
Burke’s hat-trick heroics help Union edge Frankfurt
Union Berlin travelled to the Deutsche Bank Park to take on Eintracht Frankfurt. Frankfurt were just off the back of their emphatic 5 – 1 Champions League win over Galatasaray. Union had just felt the sting of defeat at home the previous weekend with a 4 – 2 loss to Hoffenheim. Most fans believed that Union were primed for an embarrassing performance.
Ilyas Ansah opened the scoring in the 9th minute for Union, but Oliver Burke stepped up to another level, scoring in the 32nd, 53rd, and 56th minute to ensure Union took all three points home from Frankfurt that evening. In scoring this hat-trick, Burke has become the first Scottish player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga.
Frankfurt attempted to mount a comeback in the final ten minutes with a goal from Can Uzun and a penalty scored by Jonathan Burkardt but even an extra ten minutes of injury time added on was not enough. Union jumped four places from 14th to 10th with this win, now equalling Frankfurt’s point total in 6th place with only goal difference separating five teams.
Adeyemi rocket keeps Dortmund hot on Bayern’s heels
Borussia Dortmund faced Wolfsburg in Sunday evening’s Bundesliga clash, five days after their thrilling 4 – 4 draw with Juventus in the Champions League which saw eight goals in the second half. Sunday’s was a special game for Dortmund as Nico Schlotterbeck returned from an injury he sustained in April. It was a close game but it was clear that Dortmund were dominant in a way that they haven’t been since the season kicked off. Perhaps Schlotterbeck was the missing piece of the puzzle.
In the 20th minute, Karim Adeyemi scored with an absolute rocket from outside the box to put Dortmund ahead.
Another player who stood out during this fixture was Felix Nmecha, he took control of the midfield and kept possession even under high pressure from Wolfsburg.
Towards the end of the game Wolfsburg came painstakingly close to an equaliser, but it was saved by Kobel millimetres before going over the line. Dortmund won their three points, keeping them hot on the heels of Bayern with only two points separating the sides.
Bundesliga MD 4 results
(8) Stuttgart 2 – 0 St. Pauli (5)
(15) Hamburger SV 2 – 1 Heidenheim (18)
(16) Augsburg 1 – 4 Mainz (13)
(14) Bremen 0 – 3 Freiburg (7)
(9) Hoffenheim 1 – 4 Bayern (1)
(3) RB Leipzig 3 – 1 Koln (4)
(6) Frankfurt 3 – 4 Union Berlin (10)
(11) Leverkusen 1 – 1 Gladbach (17)
(2) Dortmund 1 – 0 Wolfsburg (12)
