On matchday 10 of the Bundesliga, two teams who had only hoped for a fresh start were put to the test: Bayer Leverkusen and VfL Bochum went down again after surprisingly clear victories. Surprise team Werder Bremen also loses again.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Bayer Leverkusen 5:1 (1:0)
Bayer Leverkusen’s star coach Xabi Alonso is already having a difficult time after the 1: 5 (0: 1) draw in the Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt. Three days after the Champions League defeat against FC Porto (0:3), the Werkself suffered a dismantling. In front of 49,700 spectators, Daichi Kamada scored two penalties (45+4/72 minutes), Randal Kolo Muani (58′), Jesper Lindström (65′) and Lucas Alario (86′) for Eintracht. Piero Hincapie scored for the visitors (56′), which caused both penalties and saw the yellow-red card with around 20 minutes remaining.
Three days after the Champion League match at Tottenham Hotspur (2: 3), the Hessians recovered well. Strong in play and with striker Kolo Muani as the star player and a constant source of danger, the hosts left Leverkusen little room to develop in the 75th Bundesliga duel between the two clubs. The first chance for the nimble Frankfurters was Mario Götze, who shot just wide of the left post from 20 meters after five minutes. Subsequently it was above all Kuolo Mani who challenged the Bayer defence.
The French international got his first big break after a dream pass from Götze, but Hincapie blocked the shot with a last-minute tackle. Then it was Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky who saved a shot by Kuolo Mani (28′) from close range. The Rhinelanders scored their only chance of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong (33′), who volleyed in Moussa Diaby’s precise cross onto the crossbar.
But then it was again Kolo Muani (41′) who endangered: after a solo, the Eintracht striker failed again in Hradecky. The former Frankfurt goalkeeper was also the winner in a penalty duel with Kolo Muani just before the break. But after the intervention of the video assistant, the penalty was retaken because Hradecky was already in front of the goal line at the time of the shot. In the second attempt, Kamada scored confidently.
After the restart, the visitors took more initiative, while Eintracht withdrew slightly. This initially paid off as Hincapie headed in to make it 1-1. The goal was a wake-up call for the hosts, who in return took the lead again. After Christopher Lenz’s cross, Kolo Muani headed in from close range. Bayer gave up when Lindstrom landed a wonderful lob on Hradecky. Especially as soon after Hincapie was sent off and Kamada finished from the penalty spot. The final point was then reserved for ex Leverkusener Alario.
VfL Wolfsburg – Borussia Monchengladbach 2: 2 (1: 1)
Wherever Borussia Mönchengladbach plays, there is always something going on at the moment. After 1: 5 at Werder Bremen and 5: 2 against 1. FC Köln, this time it was only enough for a 2: 2 (1: 1) at VfL Wolfsburg despite twice leading. As a result, Daniel Farke’s side failed to improve their Champions League place for at least one day. Frenchman Marcus Thuram gave Borussia the lead twice in the 13th and 47th minutes. VfL drew twice through Yannick Gerhardt (43′) and Omar Marmoush (69′). This was deserved as Wolfsburg lost half a dozen more chances in front of 26,701 spectators.
On the occasion of Niko Kovac’s 51st birthday, VfL made every effort to confirm the latest impressions of the new manager. At the start of the season it was still a major flaw that the “Wolves” did not create enough chances. But now they leave too many unused. That’s exactly what Kovac complained about in his press conference on Friday. Against Gladbach, Gerhardt could have given VfL the lead in the 9th minute.
Shortly before the well-deserved equalizer, it even became grotesque: First, Jakub Kaminski shot the ball for a corner in front of the empty goal and only hit the outside of the post (37th). Then Ridle Baku put Gerhardt back in a good shooting position, but missed the ball in the penalty area (40′). Efficiency was exactly the quality the Gladbachers had in front of the “wolves” that day. Again in the second half Thuram took advantage of the first opportunity to get back the lead from a corner kick by Jonas Hofmann.
Despite the disappointing starting balance of ten points after ten matchdays, this speaks of a certain development of Wolfsburg in recent weeks: Kovac’s team continues to defend after such setbacks and now has the physical qualities again to do it until at the last minute. In the 64th minute, substitute Marmoush missed in front of the Gladbach goal. Just five minutes later, the Egyptian hit from the turn, which is worth seeing. In the end there was even more for VfL: but Kevin Paredes failed first after a nice pass from Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer (87th). And a little later, Marmoush hit the crossbar with a header (88th).
VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum 4: 1 (2: 1)
VfB Stuttgart has stopped its sporting descent into the Bundesliga. In the first game after parting with coach Pellegrino Matarazzo there was a 4:1 (2:1) draw against VfL Bochum. Under interim coach Michael Wimmer, the Swabians won the trend duel against the taillight on Saturday and left the relegation places. Bochum suffered another setback after the victory against Eintracht Frankfurt (3-0) last week.
After nine failed attempts, the passionate and not at all insecure VfB celebrated their first victory of the season. After just three minutes, Silas Katompa Mvumpa’s penalty had the fans cheering in the stands of the Stuttgart Arena. Naouirou Ahamada extends the lead (22′). Simon Zoller narrowed VfL’s lead (29) before Silas added his second goal (64). Captain Wataru Endo (71st) made the decision.
Wimmer, busy giving orders on the sidelines, had announced that he didn’t want to change everything. Matarazzo’s longtime assistant remained true to the basic order. However, he had to make two changes because Serhou Guirassy and Atakan Karazor were suspended. Also, Hiroki Ito initially only sat on the bench. Despite the sense of accomplishment, Wimmer should only be a temporary fix. “Neither of the two candidates we are still in talks with has been disclosed. This is a good sign,” Stuttgart chief executive Alexander Wehrle told Sky TV ahead of the game and a decision in the coming days in perspective.
The question marks surrounding VfB don’t seem to paralyze the team. The VfB was brave from the start. Silas, who returned to play on the right, was brought down by Danilo Soares and converted the due penalty. Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann came out of his door and tried to wake up those in front after the initial shock. At least the intensity of the duels increased afterwards.
VfB, on the other hand, looked for playful solutions and was as active as in Matarazzo’s last match. The difference from 0-1 against 1. FC Union Berlin is that this time the hosts had luck on their side. After a long ball, Riemann misjudged and finished. Silas played the ball again and Ahamada scored to make it 2-0.
The visitors, with Kevin Stöger replacing Patrick Osterhage in midfield, remained toxic and even rewarded themselves. When a cross came in, VfB goalkeeper Florian Müller hit the opponent Simon Zoller. With this goal, VfB set a new bad record. There has been at least one goal conceded in the last 27 home games. However, this figure was only a side note, as the Stuttgart team survived a pressure phase without damage and on the other hand Silas and Endo scored more pin pricks. The mood was dampened by the injured replacement of Konstantinos Mavropanos, who was carried on a stretcher.
SV Werder Bremen – Mainz 05 0: 2 (0: 1)
No Füllkrug goals, no Werder wins: Surprise Bremen side and their top scorer suffered a Bundesliga setback against their feared new opponent. In the 0: 2 (0: 1) draw against FSV Mainz 05, striker Niclas Füllkrug took a used matchday like the entire Werder team and was therefore unable to pick up any further points from the club coach. international Hansi Flick in the fight for a ticket to the World Cup . Instead, Marcus Ingvartsen (36th minute) and Jae-Sung Lee (66th) scored in front of 41,000 spectators in the sold-out Weser Stadium for the guests, for whom it was the third victory in a row at the Weser.
Bremen started energetically and had their first chance through Marvin Ducksch after less than a minute. But unlike the 5-1 win against Gladbach in the previous home game, Bremen’s enthusiasm died down after the first ten minutes. Although the hosts had much more ball possession, the green-and-whites were unable to take advantage of it. The Mainz defense was good despite some changes and hardly allowed the dangerous Werder Füllkrug/Ducksch attack duo to develop.
Furthermore, the visitors always responded very well and took the lead through Ingvartsen, which was not entirely undeserved. After a fine cross from Danny da Costa, the Dane headed the Werder goal. The striker had already scored in a 1-1 draw against Leipzig a week ago. The fact that Jonathan Burkardt still hadn’t fully recovered didn’t matter much to the guests. After all, the European U21 champions returned to the bench at the Weser Stadium and came on for Ingvartsen midway through the second half.
By this point, Mainz had already extended their lead. Although Werder had most of the ball in the second half, they didn’t know what to do with it. The guests, on the other hand, struck it cool. In the event of a counterattack, Fort Lee was in the center and went up to 2:0. Ironically, Lee, who had been one of the best players under Bremen coach Ole Werner in Kiel. Bremen tried everything again in the closing stages and brought new offensive power in Oliver Burke and Lee Buchanan.
But Werner’s measures bore no fruit on this gloomy October afternoon from Bremen’s point of view. Instead of staying in the top group, Bremen slipped back into the middle of the table. Also because Füllkrug didn’t achieve much in the early stages, apart from a blocked shot and eventually also got a yellow card for a frustration foul.
