The Hard Tackle brings you a brief summary of Matchday 7 in the 2018/19 Bundesliga campaign as a series of surprising results transpired over the weekend.
Matchday 7 of the 2018/19 Bundesliga campaign continued in what has already been one of the most exciting title races in the past decade or so. While Bayern’s shock 3-0 defeat to Borussia Moenchengladbach will remain the highlight of this weekend’s set of fixtures, Borussia Dortmund made yet another extraordinary comeback to obtain a four-point lead over the Bavarians.
RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen also continued their excellent form by recording convincing wins over Nuremberg and Wolfsburg respectively while Schalke made it two wins in a row by stomping newly promoted Fortuna Dusseldorf. Elsewhere, Hannover registered their first victory of the campaign, beating VfB Stuttgart.
In addition, Eintracht Frankfurt managed to seal a narrow win over TSG Hoffenheim, despite going 10-men in the second half. Mainz and Hertha played out a stale 0-0 draw along with SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen before Leipzig wrapped the matchday with a whopping 6-0 win over Nuremberg.
Friday: Davy Klaassen shines in Werder’s win over Wolfsburg
Davy Klaassen scored his first goal at the Weserstadion as Wolfsburg’s winless run continues. The Dutchman was excellent throughout the course of the game, a real spark plug in the Werder attack. He opened the scoring in the 35th minute when a lapse of concentration from the Wolves defence gifted him with a golden opportunity to put his team in front.
Although Wolfsburg tried their best to get back into the game throughout the second half, Jonannes Eggestein doubled Werder’s lead, largely thanks to a neat through ball veteran striker Claudio Pizarro. The win helps Die Grunweiss climb fourth in the league table, ahead of Hertha and Bayern while Wolfsburg extend their winless run to five games.
Saturday: Dortmund with yet another comeback; Bayern struggle against clinical Gladbach; Bobby Wood masterclass and much more
Hannover registered their first win of the campaign thanks to a Bobby Wood masterclass as they downed Stuttgart 3-1 at the HDI Arena. The former Hamburg striker scored two headed goals in the first half and caused a myriad of trouble for the opposing defence with his robust style of play. His partnership with Niklas Fullkrug was also eye-catching – something that will surely delight Hannover coach Andre Breitenreiter.
Speaking of coaches, Stuttgart didn’t hesitate in sacking Tayfun Korkut soon after their defeat. Die Schwaben go into the international break, lavishing at the bottom of the table and without a coach while Hannover’s win pulls them ahead of both Stuttgart and Dusseldorf.
Schalke produced a solid display to clinch a 2-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf. Following a stale first-half attacking display, Weston McKennie found the opener just minutes after the restart before Guido Burgstaller doubled Schalke’s lead in the 53rd minute.
American sensation McKennie was definitely the most influential player for the Royal Blues, who are looking much better offensively. Suat Serdar also deserves credit for his industry in the middle of the park as Schalke move out of the relegation zone, at the expense of Dusseldorf.
Mainz, on the other hand, played out a stale 0-0 draw with Hertha Berlin, who will be disappointed with the result, especially after coming on the back of a shock win over Bayern Munich last weekend. Vedad Ibisevic wasted the biggest opportunity of the game when he failed to convert a delicious lofted cross from Valentino Lazaro in the first half, only managing to hit the post.
As for Borussia Dortmund, they were in no mood of going down just yet, once again making an extraordinary comeback to seal an amazing 4-3 win over FC Augsburg at the Signal Iduna Park. The visitors were leading 1-0 at halftime thanks to Alfred Finnbogason.
But, Dortmund turned on the screws in the second half, largely due to the effective substitutions made by Lucien Favre as he introduced Paco Alcacer just before the hour-mark. And soon after, the Barcelona loanee found the equalizer, which was cancelled out by Philipp Max’s 72nd-minute strike as Augsburg led once again.
That being said, Alcacer capitalized on a clever free-kick from Raphael Guerreiro to score the second equalizer before Mario Goetze handed Dortmund the lead, in his first Bundesliga appearance this season. Augsburg, however, remained resolute and scored a deserved equalizer in the 88th minute through Michael Gregoritsch.
But, an awful foul from substitute Sergio Cordova awarded Dortmund with a last-minute free-kick just outside the box and Alcacer made full use of that opportunity, producing a brilliant curling effort to complete his hat-trick as well as sealing all three points for his side. The Spaniard has now scored six goals in three matches, making him the most prolific summer signing of the Bundesliga this campaign.
While Bayern fans might not have been pleased with Dortmund’s epic comeback, they suffered further heartbreak when their own team faced a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Borussia Moenchengladbach. The Bavarians produced a listless display with their defenders struggling to perform while their midfielder cut a forlorn figure in the middle of the park.
Alassane Plea, Lars Stindl and Patrick Herrmann were the scorers for Gladbach, who now climb as high as third in the league table, trailing second-placed Leipzig due to an inferior goal difference.
Sunday: Leverkusen stutter against Freiburg; Eintracht upset Hoffenheim; Leipzig secure big win
In what was arguably the most boring game of the campaign, Bayer Leverkusen played out a 0-0 draw with SC Freiburg at the Dreisamstadion. Both sides combined for just one shot on target, despite actually racking up a combined total of 21 shots on goal. It was a disappointing result for Leverkusen, who are still stuck at the wrong end of the table just with seven points in seven matches.
Following a midweek demolition of Lazio in the Europa League, Eintracht Frankfurt continued their fiery form by sealing a narrow win over Hoffenheim. They were fortunate, however, with Hoffenheim hitting the post twice in the first half.
An awful decision making from goalkeeper Oliver Baumann allowed Ante Rebic to score the opener. The Croatian international was excellent in wreaking havoc in the opposing defence with his physical runs. But, he was sent-off around the hour-mark after he picked up a second yellow for a mistimed tackle.
Hoffenheim pulled one back soon after his dismissal through Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson. And Julian Nagelsmann might have scored the equalizer as well had it not been for a super save from Kevin Trapp in the dying embers of the match.
And finally, RB Leipzig wrapped the matchday in style, securing a magnificent 6-0 win over 1.FC Nuremberg. Timo Werner and Marcel Sabitzer both scored a brace while Kevin Kampl and Yussuf Poulsen also chipped in with goals as Die Roten-Bullen climb second in the league table, just three points behind table-toppers Borussia Dortmund.