Dortmund continues to nibble on the Bodö trauma in Berlin
Dortmund's most recent record against Union Berlin is actually pretty good, and has even been flawless for a little over two years (back then BVB lost 2-1). At home Borussia won 6-0 and 3-0, away at the Alte Försterei also 3-0. Perhaps Niko Kovac reminded his team, who were badly criticized in Bodö, Norway, of these statistics. Above all, he made changes to five positions in the away game against Union: Schlotterbeck, Ryerson, Nmecha, Nwaneri and Guirassy were allowed to start again from the start.
The good news for BVB: The score is still zero against the Iron Men. Defensively, unlike the frustrating Champions League trip to the Arctic Circle, it was a decent performance. But what BVB offered offensively was probably not enough even for Kovac, the lover of defensive stability. A shot from Maximilian Beier, just past the goal to the right, was the most dangerous thing Dortmund had to offer. Guirassy also missed the goal in the end. The Berliners acted similarly harmlessly. Conclusion: It was a zero number that really didn't deserve a winner.
Muheim's beam delights Hamburger SV against Stuttgart
Before kick-off, Hamburg sent a nice signal to their captain Nicolai Remberg, and the team warmed up in jerseys with his number on the back. The 26-year-old was successfully operated on in a London clinic after tearing his cruciate ligament, as the club announced before the game. Remberg probably watched the game against Stuttgart from his sick bed, and what he saw did not encourage the 26-year-old. An xGoals value of 0.09 for his Hamburg team after 20 minutes, which didn't get much better over the course of the first half. And Stuttgart chances, like that of Deniz Undav (39th), whose shot only hit the left post. The same Undav, by the way, who last scored in the Champions League in Bratislava, but not yet in the Bundesliga this season.
Hamburg's xGoals value increased significantly after the break, thanks only to Yussuf Poulsen, who first headed the ball onto the outside post and hit the crossbar a few minutes later. But Undav also continued to search for his first league goal, in the 58th minute he took a sharp shot and forced HSV keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes to do a brilliant deed. But in the end it wasn't Undav who celebrated, but Remberg, who must have jumped up from his sick bed - thanks to Miro Muheim. The Swiss finished off a Hamburg counterattack in the 88th minute with a wonderful beam into the right corner. Afterwards, his colleagues had to push the cramps out of his legs. Remberg would like to have problems like that.
Paderborn wants to crash the party, but Füllkrug fights back
The Weser Stadium celebrated its 100th birthday this Saturday. There was a choreography in the stadium in his honor, Werder Bremen's players came in with special jerseys, weeks ago a legendary game against Real Madrid delighted the fans. The new stadium was called ABTS-kampfbahn in 1926, complete with large stands, changing rooms and a restaurant. It has long since been rebuilt and has photovoltaic elements on the roof and facade. But the patina is not gone. It experienced various “miracles from the Weser”, Diego's 62-meter goal - and also the first Bundesliga goal in history, scored on August 24, 1963 by Dortmund's Timo Konietzka.
And that suited the modern era: Paderborn also initially turned out to be a party crasher. In the 18th minute, SC striker Stefano Marino scored with a strong shot into the right corner of the cross to make it 0-1. After half an hour, Steffen Tigges took advantage of the sleepiness of Bremen's defense and pushed the ball into the far corner to make it 2-0. Niclas Füllkrug didn't look good at all; Bremen's striker had previously missed two good chances. Before the break, Werder had further chances, two through Eren Dinkci, but the surprising deficit remained.
But then after just under an hour Füllkrug popped the champagne corks at the Bremen team - his fifth goal in the last five league games. 20 minutes after the restart, Werder confidently converted a hand penalty into the bottom left corner to equalize. The shooter? Filling jug! He almost managed the hat trick, but Füllkrug didn't want to succeed on this difficult holiday for Bremen.
Only the people of Mainz mine silver
“One digs the silver, the other digs the gold,” says the Steiger song that is played at Schalke before the games, but S04 have not yet mined much silver and gold in their home stadium. More precisely: Not a single goal has been scored there so far this season, in the 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich (at least!) and against Elversberg. That changed in the third game, but rather to Schalke's dismay. Mainz's Phillip Tietz continued his scoring streak and scored in the 24th minute to make it 0-1 - his fifth goal of the season. Mainz could have taken the lead shortly after kick-off, but Loris Karius brilliantly parried Sheraldo Becker's shot.
Schalke still didn't have a single chance to score after an hour, and what didn't make things better: Edin Dzeko had to leave the field with a head injury. The hosts remembered far too late that a goal might be good for their home record, but Alexander Schwolow thwarted Satoshi Tanaka and Hwang Hee-chan's shot chances. After that it was over and the climber had to go home without silver or gold after the work was done.
Elversberg continues to amaze, this time with a huge show against Augsburg
“The Village” wasted no time in this duel between the midfield teams, there was a lot to be clarified: Who will go up the table in the autumn - and who will go into uncomfortable territory? Both had a good start to the season, which was hard to say about this game in particular: Elversberger started off as if there was a volume discount for early goals. A handball by Augsburg defender Chrislain Matisma led to a penalty in the 4th minute after the VAR decision, which SVE man Lukas Petkov used in the follow-up to make it 1-0. And before Augsburg could even enjoy the fresh country air, it was already 2-0, because they like to scurry in Saarland.
Ball won after an FCA corner, a few stops, then Lasse Günther finished free-standing (7th). And the 3-0? The villagers celebrated before the break when Maximilian Rohr skillfully headed a corner into the far corner (28th). The strange thing: Augsburg didn't play badly at all, had chances and, after a grotesquely long VAR waiting loop, made it 3-1 in stoppage time in the first half (Fabian Rieder handball penalty, 45th + 9). A trend that continued in this game with many waves, because after the substitution, FCA received another penalty. A high leg from Lukas Pinckert was punished, which Michael Gregoritsch took advantage of to make it 3-2 (76'). There was a lot going on in this village - Augsburg almost got another hand penalty from the largely confused referee Florian Exner before SVE professional Frederik Schmahl made it 4-2 after Petkov's assist (89th). And even that wasn't it, because Mert Kömür's 4:3 (90th) finally turned this kick into a frivolous village festival. The fact that Elversberg's Noel Futkeu missed another penalty (90+8) completed the madness of this afternoon.
