Bochum is the first team to make a strong statement. After a decent outing last week against favorites Fürth, they travelled to Aue and laid waste to the Erzgebirge. Fast, efficient and totally in control. Aue ran around in shock, and had nothing to stop the onslaught. Luckily, Bochum took their foot off the gas, otherwise it could have been a lot worse. The Ruhr side has dicked around the last couple of seasons, but at least with this good start, they’ve shown that they have some talent and can mix it up.
Another statement of sorts in München, but not the positive sort. Rasenbull, or Redballsport, OK, everyone but the DFB knows it’s “Red Bull” thumped their hosts 1860. Oh, no, this could be Hoffenheim x 2, even worse moneybags incursion of corporate interests into German football. But before we send the hooligans to the barricades to protest, lets look a bit closer at the match. The statement was really from 1860: we stink. Leipzig’s footballers merely accepted the gift. This was one of 1860s lamest displays in history (and I’m sure there are quite a bit to chose from). To be sure, Leipzig played well, and could have had more (even missed a penalty). But the Lions were sleepwalking
Aalen put on a strong performance, completely outplayed a hugely disappointing St.Pauli squad. The hosts were quicker and determined, and the Hamburgers looked lackluster and uninterested.
A wild match in Frankfurt, but it was close only because Karlsruhe wasted a huge number of chances. FSV looks like they will struggle once again to stay up, back to their old pattern. (After a couple of reasonably good seasons). KSC got a hat-trick from Bulgarian international Ilijan Micanski, but they need to finish off their opponents if they expect a Bundesliga return.
In Berlin, Union and Fortuna Düsseldorf split the points. Overall it was the fair result, as both teams ran around a lot, but neither had much of an edge.
Heidenheim got a rude awakening to the 2.Liga reality as they got bitch-slapped in Braunschweig. They didn’t play bad, and were almost equal for large periods, but the ex-Bundesligist was simply ruthless when they needed to be, and eventually overpowered the newly promoted side.
Exciting match in Ingolstadt, which looked to give Darmstadt their first 2nd division success in a couple of decades. However in injury time Ingolstadt pulled out a point with a bicycle kick equalizer.
Kaiserslautern disappointed at Sandhausen. They were generally able to control the ball, but couldn’t make much headway against their scrappy opponents. When they finally took a late lead, they were unable to hold against their hosts, who threw everything they had forward and just out-hustled FCK down the stretch, and were rewarded with a last minute equalizer. Good point for Sandhausen, but I really expect more from Kaiserslautern.
Monday night had the huge “Franken-derby” (Franconia in English, but obviously sounds better in German!) as Greuther Fürth hosted Nürnberg. The result was somewhat of a shock, as GF kicked FCN’s ass all over the pitch. The hosts came out aggressively, jumping all over der Club. Nürnberg fought their way back, and the game looked up for grabs by half-time. However after the restart, with FCN pressing for an equalizer, Fürth countered and scored the third, which proved to be the back breaker. Nürnberg collapsed and the Greuther ran all over them.
Total attendance 134,863 (avg 14,985)
VfR Aalen - FC St. Pauli 2:0 (1:0) 9,583
1:0 Daghfous (13., Drexler)
2:0 Junglas (70., Mössmer)
FSV Frankfurt - Karlsruher SC 2:3 (2:3) 6,738
0:1 Micanski (11., Torres)
1:1 Kapllani (16., Huber)
1:2 Micanski (18., Seitz)
1:3 Micanski (41., Torres)
2:3 Kapllani (45., penalty, Bittroff)
1. FC Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:1 (0:1) 20,562
0:1 Liendl (35., Benschop)
1:1 Kreilach (64., Brandy)
Eintr. Braunschweig - 1. FC Heidenheim 3:0 (1:0) 21,430
1:0 Nielsen (38., Reichel)
2:0 Reichel (56., Nielsen)
3:0 Reichel (73., Zuck)
Erzgebirge Aue - VfL Bochum 1:5 (1:3) 8,850
0:1 Sestak (5., Gregoritsch)
1:1 S. Okoronkwo (16., Novikovas)
1:2 Sestak (28., Gregoritsch)
1:3 Tasaka (41., direct freekick)
1:4 Terodde (66., Losilla)
1:5 Terodde (78., Terrazzino)
FC Ingolstadt 04 - SV Darmstadt 98 2:2 (1:1) 9,000
0:1 Bregerie (16., Kempe)
1:1 Lex (22.)
1:2 Stroh-Engel (74., Bregerie)
2:2 Lappe (90. + 3, Mijatovic)
1860 München - RB Leipzig 0:3 (0:1) 32,000
0:1 Poulsen (39., D. Kaiser)
0:2 Morys (68., Poulsen)
0:3 Thomalla (82., Morys)
SV Sandhausen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:1 (0:0) 9,500
0:1 Ring (77., Fomitschow)
1:1 Bieler (89., Linsmayer)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC Nürnberg 5:1 (2:1) 17,200
1:0 Baba (8.)
2:0 Sukalo (17., Baba)
2:1 Pinola (35., Füllkrug)
3:1 Baba (57.)
4:1 Weilandt (76., K. Przybylko)
5:1 Zulj (87.)
1 VfL Bochum 2 1 1 0 6:2 +4 4
2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2 1 1 0 6:2 +4 4
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3 Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 2 1 1 0 5:2 +3 4
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4 RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 2 1 1 0 3:0 +3 4
5 VfR Aalen 2 1 1 0 2:0 +2 4
6 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4
7 SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 2 1 1 0 3:2 +1 4
8 Karlsruher SC 2 1 1 0 3:2 +1 4
9 1. FC Heidenheim (N) 2 1 0 1 2:4 -2 3
10 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 1 1 0 0 2:5 -3 3
11 Fortuna Düsseldorf 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2
12 FC Ingolstadt 04 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2
13 1. FC Union Berlin 2 0 2 0 1:1 0 2
14 SV Sandhausen 2 0 1 1 1:2 -1 1
15 FC St. Pauli 2 0 1 1 1:3 -2 1
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16 FSV Frankfurt 2 0 0 2 3:5 -2 0
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17 1860 München 2 0 0 2 2:6 -4 0
18 Erzgebirge Aue 2 0 0 2 1:6 -5 0
1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga