Bundesliga, Round 4

Crappy teams get better…

Frankfurt continues to astound, setting a new record for best start ever for a promoted club. Key to the victory was the Japanese duel between Frankfurt’s Inui and Nürnberg’s Kiyotake. Both played well, but Inui was perhaps the deciding factor in Frankfurt’s win. On balance, a deserved win for Eintracht, but a decent performance by Nürnberg, who at least seem to have proved they’re an OK squad.

Bayern München had an easy win at Schalke. The hosts were way too passive and hardly challenged the leaders. Not what you’d expect from Schalke, but there you have it. Since the Blues were basically comatose, Bayern had a Spaziergang and leisurely waltzed around before putting Schalke to the sword with a double early in the 2nd half. Bayern is off to a fine start, but they did the same last season.

Hamburg got on the board with an outstanding performance against champions Dortmund. This was the Neons first Bundesliga loss in 31 matches – and ironically Dortmund had been chasing HSV’s 36 match record from the 1980s. HSV has stunk early in the season, but they looked like a revived squad. They got off to a dream start with an early goal by the Korean midfielder Son. Dortmund equalized, but HSV continued to play well and soon were up by two. From that point on, Dortmund dominated, pulling a goal back. The Neons bombarded the HSV goal, but GK Rene Adler was brilliant. The return of hero Rafael van de Vaart continues, as the Dutchman picked up another 2 assists. This is the type of victory that could turn HSV’s season around. For Dortmund, perhaps some worries about defense, but overall not a huge loss.

Hoffenheim is another stinker that got healthy. The Kraisgauers faced Hannover, and the 96ers have been impressive so far – hadn’t lost an “official” match (league, Cup, Euro) yet in the new season. meanwhile, the Hoppers have probably been the worst side, leading patron Dietmar Hopp to consider investing his zillions in something more stable, like Greek government bonds. And sure enough, the Hoppers kicked themselves in the balls as Delpierre suffered an own goal. The 96ers were laughing with glee and headed off to the pub. But lo and behold, Hoffenheim woke up from their slumber and furiously attacked the Hannover goal, equalizing immediately. And for the rest of the match, they pressed the 96ers back, and finally in the closing stages were able to grab their first win, sending hannover home like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs. A loss probably would have cost Markus Babbel his job, but this performance shows that there might still be some life in the Hoppers…

Stuttgart also did well. VfB continues at the bottom, but they at least get a moral victory, and the way they’ve sucked, I’m sure they’ll be happy with that. They looked well on their way to another crap result, as Werder was all over them and jumped to a 2-0 lead. They should have sailed home, but VfB roused from their slumber and fought back, grabbing an earned point.

Wolfsburg undoubtedly expected to kick Greuther Fürth’s ass, but instead struggled. Especially in the 1st half the promoted side ran rings around the VWs, and had a deserved lead. Ivica Olic equalized late, but that was rather fortunate, since they had been outplayed. Wolfsburg woke up in the 2nd half (undoubtedly Felix Maggot threw a temper tantrum in the locker room), and came out strong, pressing the visitors into defense. But Greuther Fürth held off and grabs a deserved road point.

Düsseldorf seems to want to ride a grim defense to salvation…Fortuna hasn’t given up a goal yet! They are like a 1970s Serie A squad. Once again, they were largely outplayed by their opponents, but they defended stoutly and fought for every ball. Freiburg had the upper hand, but didn’t have the skills standpoint

Leverkusen hosted a Rhein derby with Gladbach, and has to be disappointed with splitting the points. The visitors didn’t seem much interested in playing, and did the minimal necessary. They grabbed a blitz lead and then took the afternoon off. The Aspirins quickly equalized and then chased their tail for the rest of the match as they tried to get the win. No luck, but largely their own incompetance. Fair result.

Mainz jumped out to an early lead against Augsburg and seemed to be cruising. FCA then threw caution into the wind in the 2nd half, and should have pulled equal. But they were incompetant in converting their many chances, and thus take the “red lantern” bottom spot. Some times you have to score goals, and the Fuggers have a major problem there. Mainz hasn’t been overly impressive, but the get the points.

 	
1. FC Nürnberg	     -   Eintracht Frankfurt	1:2 (0:1)    45,033

                    0:1  Hoffer (25., Anderson)
                    0:2  Inui (60., Lanig)
                    1:2  Polter (76., Kiyotake)

FC Schalke 04	     -   Bayern München	        0:2 (0:0)    61,673

                    0:1  Kroos (55., T. Müller)
                    0:2  T. Müller (58.)

VfL Wolfsburg	     -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	1:1 (1:1)    25,522

                    0:1  Pogatetz (27., own goal, Grün)
                    1:1  Olic (42., Kahlenberg)

1. FSV Mainz 05	     -   FC Augsburg	        2:0 (2:0)    28,463

                    1:0  Ivanschitz (10.)
                    2:0  Szalai (25., N. Müller)

Hamburger SV	     -   Borussia Dortmund	3:2 (1:0)    57,000

                    1:0  Son (2., van der Vaart)
                    1:1  Perisic (46., Lewandowski)
                    2:1  Ilicevic (55., van der Vaart)
                    3:1  Son (59.)
                    3:2  Perisic (60., Piszczek)

Fortuna Düsseldorf   -   SC Freiburg	        0:0 (0:0)    26,862
 
Bayer Leverkusen     -   Bor. M'gladbach	1:1 (1:1)    27,640

                    0:1  Herrmann (3., Arango)
                    1:1  Kadlec (12., Reinartz)

Werder Bremen	     -   VfB Stuttgart	        2:2 (2:0)    40,172

                    1:0  de Bruyne (23., Petersen)
                    2:0  Junuzovic (34., Petersen)
                    2:1  Harnik (50., Traoré)
                    2:2  Cacau (81., Niedermeier)

1899 Hoffenheim	     -   Hannover 96	        3:1 (1:1)    23,575

                    0:1  Delpierre (26., own goal, Rausch)
                    1:1  Johnson (27., Delpierre)
                    2:1  Salihovic (82., Volland)
                    3:1  Williams (90. + 2, Volland)



 1  Bayern München	  	4 	4   0   0    14:2  +12 	  12 
 2  Eintracht Frankfurt (N)	4 	4   0   0    11:4  +7 	  12 
 3  Hannover 96	  	        4 	2   1   1    10:7  +3 	  7
 4  Borussia Dortmund (M, P)	4 	2   1   1     8:5  +3 	  7
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 5  FC Schalke 04	  	4 	2   1   1     7:5  +2 	  7 
 6  1. FC Nürnberg	  	4 	2   1   1     6:5  +1 	  7
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 7  Fortuna Düsseldorf (N)	4 	1   3   0     2:0  +2 	  6 
 8  SC Freiburg	  	        4 	1   2   1     6:6   0 	  5 
 9  Borussia M'gladbach	  	4 	1   2   1     5:5   0 	  5 
10  VfL Wolfsburg	  	4 	1   2   1     2:5  -3 	  5 
11  Werder Bremen	  	4 	1   1   2     7:7   0 	  4 
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	4 	1   1   2     4:5  -1 	  4 
13  Bayer Leverkusen	  	4 	1   1   2     4:6  -2 	  4 
14  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N)	4 	1   1   2     2:6  -4 	  4 
15  Hamburger SV	  	4 	1   0   3     5:8  -3 	  3
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16  1899 Hoffenheim	  	4 	1   0   3     7:12 -5 	  3
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17  VfB Stuttgart	  	4 	0   2   2     3:9  -6 	  2 
18  FC Augsburg	  	        4 	0   1   3     1:7  -6 	  1	

3 thoughts on “Bundesliga, Round 4

  1. Hecking should have made those substitutions at half time, with Feulner instead of Frantz. Mak showed his unreliability/inconsistency again while Frantz and Esswein are yet to take off this season. Gebhart and Feulner should be utilized more effectively.

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