Borussia Dortmund – VfB Stuttgart 5: 0 (3: 0), Gates: 1-0 Bellingham (2′), 2-0 Süle (13′), 3-0 Reyna (44′), 4-0 Bellingham (53′), 5-0 Moukoko (72′)
At Borussia Dortmund they have talked a lot in the past week – whether in front of cameras or internally – about how they can play successful football again. The BVB players’ learning curve was just as much an issue as effectiveness. Against the recently strengthened Stuttgart (10:1 goals in two games), the question arose whether BVB would die again in beauty or whether they would convert their potential into a win. It could have been none other than Jude Bellingham who answered first. The 19-year-old Englishman always plays as if he has been in the professional game for ten years. So against Stuttgart he did what a veteran would do: he scored an early goal from eleven yards flat into the corner.
The preparer was Niklas Süle, who played as a right-back. The angular defender has often proven that he is a filigree technician. When it was 2-0, he volleyed a free-kick cross into the goal. 13 minutes were played, the sound was set. It’s no secret that BVB can unleash tremendous power. That it has a certain fickleness, but not either. Edin Terzic’s players kept their concentration high against Stuttgart: Giovanni Reyna flicked the ball into the goal just before the break to make it 3-0.
And even after the restart, Dortmund showed that they wanted to put things right. And again Bellingham went ahead: from 16 meters he scored his second goal to make it 4-0. Youssoufa Moukoko, who had been rather inconspicuous until then, was also able to celebrate a goal. And Stuttgart? Also scored, through the young Luca Pfeiffer. But the video assistant correctly intervened. So it stayed at 5:0. Stuttgart’s record under interim coach Michael Wimmer is now 10:6 goals. The trend is right. Which is why sporting director Sven Mislintat announced: “We will tackle the two remaining weeks together and then decide with plenty of time during the winter break.”
At VfB they will continue to have a lot to talk about – BVB, on the other hand, has no need to speak, at least as far as this game is concerned.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – Eintracht Frankfurt 1: 3 (0: 3), Gates: 0-1 Lindstrom (6′), 0-2 Dina Ebimbe (29′), 0-3 Lindstrom (45′), 1-3 Thuram (72′)
Eintracht Frankfurt celebrated a comfortable win at Borussia Mönchengladbach and advanced to a place in the Champions League. In front of the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick, the Hessians prevailed 3-1 (3-0) on Saturday evening and are now fourth in the table with 20 points.
Jesper Lindström (6th/45th minute) and Éric Dina Ebimbe (29th) scored for coach Oliver Glasner’s team. While Eintracht gained self-confidence for the premier class game against Olympique Marseille on Wednesday, Gladbach suffered their third defeat of the season and, in ninth place, are four points behind the Europa League winners. Marcus Thuram scored the goal for the hosts (72nd minute).
In the final phase, the game was temporarily interrupted for a curious reason. A glitch in a camera above the field meant several stadium workers spent minutes clearing dangling cables. Added time was nine minutes.
FC Augsburg – RB Leipzig 3:3 (1:0), Gates: 1-0 Berisha (34′, penalty kick), 2-0 Demirovic (51′), 3-0 Vargas (64′), 3-1 Silva (73′), 3-2 Nkunku (89′), 3-3 Nova (90th)
What a missed opportunity for three points for FC Augsburg: The Swabians were the better team against the guests from RB Leipzig for 70 minutes, apparently leading by 3 after goals from Mergim Berish (from the penalty spot), Ermedin Demirovic and Ruben Vargas: 0 In a turbulent final phase, however, the guests from Saxony managed to equalize thanks to André Silva and a double strike from Christopher Nkunku and Hugo Novoa. Leipzig can at least go into the Champions League task against Real Madrid on Tuesday with the good feeling of a rotated game.
In addition to his goal, Augsburg’s outstanding Berisha also prepared the other two FCA goals and played a key role in the fact that the Swabians looked like the sure winner for a long time. Shortly after the Augsburg team, who had clearly been superior up to that point, made it 3-0, their Brazilian left-back Iago stepped on Leipzig midfielder Xaver Schlager’s toe. Because the Austrian was rolling theatrically on the ground, Iago rushed at him and even pushed him to the ground, which the Austrian gratefully accepted. This stupid action brought Iago yellow-red, the Augsburg outnumbered from the 65th minute and as a result completely out of step – and the guests ultimately fortunate to win a point.
SC Freiburg – Werder Bremen 2:0 (0:0), Gates: 1: 0 Kübler (56th), 2: 0 Grifo (80th, penalty kick)
SC Freiburg celebrated its sixth win of the season and is still hot on the heels of leaders Union Berlin. Three days after the exhausting success in the DFB Cup against FC St. Pauli (2-1 aet), coach Christian Streich’s team beat a decimated Werder Bremen 2-0 (0-0). With 21 points from eleven games, Freiburg is only two points behind Union, which can improve on Sunday. Lukas Kübler (56th) and Vincenzo Grifo (80th, penalty kick) scored the goals in front of 34,700 spectators in the sold-out Freiburg stadium. Bremen’s captain Marco Friedl saw the red card early on because of an emergency brake (14′). For Werder, who remain on 15 points, it was the first away defeat of the season.
Leverkusen – VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (1:1), Gates: 1: 0 Diaby (17th), 1: 1 Andrich (28th, own goal), 1: 2 Arnold (54th, penalty kick), 2-2 Frimpong (76′)
The team of Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso did not get past a 2: 2 (1: 1) against the extremely conservative VfL Wolfsburg in a game with crazy twists and turns despite a clear superiority. Moussa Diaby, who miserably missed a penalty (10′), gave Bayer the lead in the 17th minute. Wolfsburg equalized flatteringly in the 28th minute through Robert Andrich’s own goal and even took the lead through captain Maximilian Arnold (54′, penalty kick). Jeremie Frimpong (76th) saved Bayer at least one point.