Bundesliga: Stuttgart frees itself, next debacle for Leverkusen – Sport

VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum 4: 1 (2: 1), Goals: 1-0 Silas (3′, penalty kick), 2-0 Ahamada (22′), 2-1 Zoller (29′), 3-1 Silas (64′), 4-1 Endo (71′)

As you know, it’s always about the reaction – the reaction of a team to a change of coach. After the 0-1 draw against Union Berlin (the ninth game of the season without a win), VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo had to go. There is no fixed successor yet, Michael Wimmer is acting as director for the Swabians on an interim basis. And a team can hardly react much faster than against Bochum. After two minutes, Stuttgart’s Silas danced through the VfL penalty area, was fouled and confidently converted the penalty that was due. In the middle of the first half, VfB followed suit. After Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann’s wandering outside the penalty area was not directly punished, the defense didn’t think it was necessary to disturb Silas’ ball forward in any way. The Congolese played to Ahamada – 2-0.

But Bochum didn’t want to give presents to their neighbors in the table basement that easily. After a sharp cross from the left, Zoller anticipated VfB goalkeeper Müller’s attempt at clarification, more or less let himself be shot and shortened. A duel between two teams with offensive ambitions and defensive naivety developed – nothing for lovers of tactical discipline but definitely entertaining. After a blackout by VfB defender Anton, Bochum missed the best chance to equalize and were promptly punished. Silas scored dryly after an hour to make it 3-1, Endo scored Stuttgart’s fourth goal as a result of a lot of disorder in the penalty area.

After the first three on the last day, Bochum and coach Thomas Letsch have to accept a setback, the Swabians get their first win and can breathe a little.

Eintracht Frankfurt – Bayer Leverkusen 5: 1 (1: 0), Goals: 1: 0 Kamada (45th + 5, penalty), 1: 1 Hincapie (56th), 2-1 Kolo Muani (58′), 3-1 Lindstrom (65′), 4-1 Kamada (72′, penalty kick), 5-1 Alario (86′)

For Leverkusen, the euphoria after coach Xabi Alonso took office was at stake against Frankfurt. On the Spaniard’s debut there was a confident 4-0 win against Schalke, during the week in the Champions League an undeserved but still sobering 0-3 loss to Porto. It was a wild game in Frankfurt. When everyone was expecting a goalless first half, Bayer defender Tapsoba lost a one-on-one against Lindström and fouled the Dane on the outer goal line – penalty. Hradecky parried Kolo Muani’s poorly kicked penalty, but VAR spoke up a little later: the Finnish goalkeeper lost one foot on the line at the decisive moment. Kamada sank the ordered replay.

After the break, Hincapie equalized with a diving header, but Leverkusen’s hopes of a comeback were short-lived. Two minutes later, Kolo Muani gave Frankfurt the lead again. As a result, it went there for Bayer, the defense partly fell apart. Lindström scored the 3:1 with a circus-suspicious lob – not the first goal of the Frankfurter worth seeing this season. Shortly thereafter, the VAR again decided against Leverkusen: Hincapie had fouled in the penalty area and had to go down with red money. As against Porto, Bayer conceded a second penalty, which Kamada converted again with ease. Substitute Alario even made it 5-1 five minutes before the end. The Stuttgart victory slips Leverkusen to 16th place in the table.

VfL Wolfsburg – Borussia Monchengladbach 2: 2 (1: 1), Gates: 0-1 Thuram (13′), 1-1 Gerhardt (43′), 1-2 Thuram (47′), 2-2 Marmoush (69′)

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In the last away game at Werder Bremen, Mönchengladbach was already 3-0 down in the 13th minute. A horror start. This time the team did better – and led 1-0 through Marcus Thuram in the 13th minute. The Frenchman was effective from the first good penetration into the penalty area. Wolfsburg remained stable, Jakub Kaminski almost equalized from a few meters (37th), only the post was in the way. Shortly before the half-time whistle, his colleague Yannick Gerhardt scored in the middle to make it 1-1 after a sharp pass from Paulo Otavio.

Gladbach obviously took it very personally, the first corner after the restart in the second half made it 2-1 – Thuram headed the ball into the net. A nice hit that Wolfsburg’s Omar Marmoush surpassed in terms of grace. Accepted with the left, turned, deducted with the right, the equalization to 2:2 was a technical cabinet piece. The rest of the game was fruitless work on both sides. Gladbach is still waiting for the first away win.

Werder Bremen – Mainz 05 0: 2 (0: 1), Goals: 0-1 Ingvartsen (36′), 0-2 Jae-sung Lee (66′)

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Bremen pushed, had the ball longer in their ranks, they were superior for a long time – but Mainz proved once again that they master a specialty: pin-prick football. Marcus Ingvartsen completed a single textbook attack down the right flank with a skillful nod to the far left corner to take the lead. Werder, that’s for sure, is the league’s grab bag squad. The North Germans win dramatically (in Dortmund), lose surprisingly (against Augsburg), the entertainment value of this team is undoubtedly high every time.

Would Bremen live up to their reputation for unpredictability in the second half? Yes absolutely. Just different than what they themselves hoped for. They couldn’t find a way to score, they looked tired, uncreative. In the Bundesliga, only Bayern Munich scored more often than the Hanseatic League. And Mainz stabbed again, Jae-Sung Lee appeared like a magician of illusions and transformed – following a template by Anton Stach – with the left from an acute left angle. Werder’s soaring flight has slowed down after the last two wins in a row.