SV Werder Bremen – 1. FC Union Berlin 2:0 (1:0)Gates: 1:0 Robin Knoche (38th, own goal), 2:0 Marvin Ducksch (75th)
Where will 1. FC Union Berlin go from here? The Champions League participant had lost nine games in a row before the game against Werder Bremen. And there was nothing to be gained against the Hanseatic League, which was in crisis. After almost 40 minutes, Bremen attacker Marvin Ducksch took a free kick into the penalty area. Union keeper Frederik Rönnow stormed out of the goal, but before he could have gotten to the ball with his fists, his own central defender Robin Knoche headed the ball into his own box in goal-scoring style. Very little progress was made by the people of Köpenick themselves.
After an hour, Rani Khedira, who had recently recovered from an injury, also saw red. He had hit his opponent Romano Schmid in the chest in midfield with his high leg stretched out – Union was outnumbered. Bremen took advantage of their field superiority for a quarter of an hour: defender Milos Veljkovic played a perfect long pass to Ducksch, who elegantly plucked the ball out of the air and made it 2-0 with a remarkable chip over Rönnow. Not much else happened. Werder achieved the victory confidently, Union was particularly disappointing offensively.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – 1. FC Heidenheim 2:1 (1:1), Goals: 1:0 Alassane Plea (4th), 1:1 Eren Dinkci (38th), 2:1 Jonas Föhrenbach (52nd, own goal)
Early lead: Alassane Plea (left) scores to make it 1-0 for Gladbach.
(Photo: Horst Mauelshagen/pepphoto/Imago)
Borussia Mönchengladbach had never played a home game against 1. FC Heidenheim in the club’s history, and now they had two – two groundbreaking ones after Borussia’s unsuccessful start to the season. Before we move on to progress in the DFB Cup on Tuesday (8:45 p.m.), we first had to catch up with the Bundesliga midfield against the promoted team on Saturday afternoon.
And it succeeded: The Gladbachers, who were dominant from the start, failed to add another goal after the quick 1-0 by Alassane Plea (4th) and then even had to accept the equalizer through a counterattack after their own corner kick – Eren Dinkci scored for him FCH (38th). But after the break, a Borussia corner resulted in a goal of their own: Heidenheim’s defender Jonas Föhrenbach headed into his own goal (52′). The tremors began from the middle of the second half, as the newcomers pushed for the equalizer until the final phase. Gladbach just wanted to get the result over time, with a five-man chain, a six-man chain, with freeing shots – they succeeded.
Borussia coach Gerardo Seoane was able to breathe a sigh of relief despite a mediocre performance – and look forward to perhaps a better game on Tuesday, when Heidenheim visits again.
FC Augsburg – VfL Wolfsburg 3:2 (1:2), Goals: 1:0 Phillip Tietz (17th), 1:1 Jonas Wind (35th), 1:2 Lovro Majer (45th, penalty kick), 2:2 Sebastiaan Bornauw (79th, own goal), 3:2 Arne Engels (81.)
Let the FCA celebrate: Substitute Arne Engels (right) first prepared Augsburg’s equalizer and then scored himself for the 3-2 win.
(Photo: Christian Kolbert/kolbert-press/Imago)
In the past, games involving FCA were rarely known for their high entertainment value. That could change under new coach Jess Thorup. Against Wolfsburg, Augsburg took the lead after a good quarter of an hour – new regular striker Phillip Tietz poked a cross over the line from the right. But VfL turned the game around before halftime. First, the Wolves’ top scorer, Jonas Wind, took advantage of a setup error and an amateurish defensive sequence by FCA to equalize. Shortly before the break, Lovro Majer converted a penalty kick to give Wolfsburg the lead.
In the second half, the Fuggerstadt team did everything they could to strike back against Heidenheim, as they did last week. The supposed equalizer by Tietz didn’t count because it was offside. The visitors themselves made it 2-2. VfL defender Sebastiaan Bornauw volleyed a cross from substitute Arne Engels into his own goal after 79 minutes. And just two minutes later, Engels gave this football game another twist. Free header in the six-meter area – 3:2 for Augsburg.
But instead of safely crossing the finish line, FCA made things difficult for themselves: defender Felix Uduokhai saw a yellow card and then a yellow-red card within three minutes. Outnumbered, the hosts walled themselves in. Wolfsburg had a great chance to equalize after a corner deep in stoppage time. But goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, who rushed forward, hit the ball wide. Thorup was able to celebrate his second win in his second game as FCA coach.
VfB Stuttgart – TSG Hoffenheim 2:3 (0:2)Gates: 0:1 Grischa Prömel (5th), 0:2 Wout Weghorst (21st, penalty kick), 1:2 Chris Führich (61st), 1:3 Robert Skov (66th), 2:3 Deniz Undav (74.)
Inside the post and in: Wout Weghorst scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 for TSG.
(Photo: Ralf Poller/Imago)
The big question before VfB Stuttgart’s derby against TSG Hoffenheim was how the surprise team from Swabia would cope with the absence of their top scorer Serhou Guirassy – after all, the Guinean-French center forward was responsible for 14 of Stuttgart’s 25 goals. And this question goes far beyond this one game or the next four weeks in which Guirassy will be missing: after all, he can leave in the winter for a rumored fixed transfer fee of 17.5 million euros, which some Premier League players Clubs are unlikely to be deterred.
So how did VfB cope with Guirassy’s absence? His replacement Deniz Undav, once a third division top scorer at SV Meppen and on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, had previously shown immense efficiency at VfB – in five league games as a substitute he had scored three times and averaged just 45 minutes for a goal needed. This time he was unfortunate in the first half and even missed a penalty after the early Hoffenheim goals from Grischa Prömel (4th) and Wout Weghorst (21st, penalty): in the 30th minute he was denied by TSG keeper Oliver Baumann caused the penalty against Undav.
In the second half, however, Undav showed himself to be much more efficient: first he provided the wonderful backheel assist for Chris Führich to make it 1-2 (61′), then after Hoffenheim had made it 1-3 in the meantime, he scored through Robert Skov (66′). 2:3: A cross from Leweling landed on the post, Undav converted the rebound (73′). And he almost prepared the equalizer, but Silas failed from six meters and a tight angle to Baumann (80th). In the end, it wasn’t due to Guirassy’s absence that VfB lost the derby. But more to the defense – and to TSG goalkeeper Baumann, who made two more saves in stoppage time.