Bundesliga has a new leader after Bayern suffers first blow

Gladbach players celebrate win over Augsburg
Borussia Monchengladbach players celebrate the victory that makes them Bundesliga leaders. Credits: AFP

A weekend of heavy emotions in the German topflight, as Bayern lost their lead and they suffered the first loss of the season. Now, the only unbeaten team in the league is Wolfsburg and the Volkwagen ambassadors are second-placed, overcoming Bayern.

Meanwhile, Bayern dropped to 3rd and is now tied in points with 4 other teams. None of these teams are Borussia Dortmund, though, since the ‘Yellow Wall’ once again lost points, on a 2-2 draw.

Check out what happened in Bundesliga matchday 7.

Bayern München 1 – 2 Hoffenheim

Hoffenheim is not particularly having a season start to remember, being in the 12th place, with just one victory so far. So, they arrived at their match in the Allianz Arena as underdogs, while Bayern was motivated after thumping Tottenham 2-7 in London.

The match, however, subverted the odds. Although Bayern had overwhelming possession, 62% against 38%, Hoffenheim took advantage of their chances. Besides, they had an inspired Armenian striker, who decided to score his two first Bundesliga goals against the Champions, in their own backyard.

Bayern actually scored first, in the initial period of the game, by Serge Gnabry. However, the referee had already raised the offside flag and the goal was disallowed. Yet, they arrived at halftime without producing many chances, with Hoffenheim tightly closing the gaps.

Armenian brace shuts down the Allianz Arena

The visitors were the ones who broke the deadlock, with Sargis Adamyan scoring his first goal for Hoffenheim. The striker was signed in the Summer to Regensburg, from the second German division, and this was only his 3rd game for the club.  Adamyan tricked Boateng and clipped the ball, just enough to get it past through Neuer (who fairly could have done better).

Later on, Bayern asked for a penalty, for a handball in the box. The ref ordered to play on. The Bavarians still got to the equalizer, by Lewandowski. His 15th goal of the season, after a cross from Muller.

If the home crowd thought they would go on to get a comeback, they got a cold-water shower just 5 minutes later. Adamyan, again, scored the second, from outside the area and he surprised Manuel Neuer once again.

Hoffenheim keeper Baumann and the whole backline were solid in the 10 minutes that followed, and Bayern was defeated for the first time this season. Hoffenheim became the first to win to Bayern this season and they did it in the Allianz Arena.

Freiburg 2 x 2 Borussia Dortmund

It has been an amazing competitive start for Freiburg so far. They cemented their position with a draw against last season’s runners up Borussia Dortmund.

As for Dortmund, they recorded their third 2-2 draw in a row. Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen and now Freiburg. Add to this the 0-0 against Barcelona in the Champions League and they have won only one competitive game in the last 5. It was midweek when they beat Slavia Praha.

Anyway, just like in the last two league draws, they were ahead in the scoresheet twice and they let the opponent equalize in the dying minutes.

Dortmund broke the deadlock over 20 minutes when Axel Witsel scored an incredible volley, following a corner kick taken by Thorgan Hazard. The Belgian hit the ball with a single touch, but it was enough to open the score.

Before halftime, Thorgan would have a chance to double Dortmund’s lead. But Schwolow made an incredible save, denying what would be an incredible goal.

A ‘deja-vu’ with a late own goal

Freiburg leveled with the usual man on the scoresheet. Waldschmidt scored his 4th goal of the season in 7 games, from outside the box. The attacker, who has already been called up for the Germany national squad, is one of the reasons for Freiburg’s incredible form.

Nonetheless, Hakimi reestablished the lead for Dortmund on a deflected shot. This was the Moroccan’s third goal in two games, following his brace against Slavia Praha on Wednesday.

Dortmund’s bad luck suffered another ‘deja vu’ and just like last week they conceded the late equalizer with an own goal. If last weekend was Delaney who put it into his own net, now it was Akanji.

With another 2-2 result, Dortmund is 4 points away from the lead and lost a golden opportunity to glue themselves to the front 6. Meanwhile, Freiburg is 4th, tied on goal difference with Leipzig.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 5 x 1 Augsburg

While most of its competitors lost points during this weekend, Borussia Monchengladbach took the opportunity to jump from 6th to the 1st place. They received Augsburg at home, already knowing that Bayern had dropped from their throne and the motivation served them well.

Marcus Thuram is part of the reason for the rampant campaign of Monchengladbach. He had been involved in 4 of the last 5 goals of his team and he did it again. Thuram set a blistering counter-attack, under 2 minutes, to put the ball into Zakaria’s feet and make it 1-0.

Even before 10 minutes, Gladbach was already 2×0 up, with Plea setting up Herrmann to finish. He would double it instants later. Same recipe: Plea pass, Herrmann conclusion.

Before the break, Plea put his own name on the scoresheet after an embarrassing mistake by goalkeeper Koubek. The Czech keeper somehow slipped after a backpass and gifted the ball to Plea to make it 4×0.

In the late second half, Niederlechner put a consolation goal for Augsburg. Still, they had not even time to celebrate it, as 3 minutes later, Embolo fresh from the bench added another one for Gladbach.

5×1 and they are now isolated with 16 points. Besides only getting 1 point in 2 games of Europa League group stages, Gladbach’s national form is worth bragging.

Wolfsburg 1 x 0 Union Berlin

Another team who had a positive weekend was Wolfsburg, who is now in the 2nd placed, glued to Gladbach. They are now, after Bayern’s defeat, the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga. Also, they have only 4 goals suffered in the 7 matches so far.

Union Berlin were the visitors to test Wolfsburg wall this time, but the Bundesliga newcomers were unable to trespass. However, the Wolves had to wait until the middle of the second half to break Berlin’s defense.

It was Weghorst, who netted is 4th goal of the season, after Brekalo caused trouble in the visitor’s backline. The latter treaded the ball to Weghorst who fired Wolfsburg through the lead.

Similar to Gladbach, Wolfsburg did not have the best Europa League campaign on Thursday evening, with a draw against Saint-Etienne. However, in Bundesliga, they keep causing damage and dodging goals.

Bayer Leverkusen 1 x 1 Leipzig

In a duel that opposed two teams that had the same points, it finished as it started. Both teams now with an extra point, but still even. Leverkusen and Leipzig had just come from Champions League midweek defeats and they were unable to get a victory in the clash between each other.

In a tight affair, it was Leverkusen who fired the first shot, on the 66th minute. Kevin Volland answered to a pass from Aranguiz and beat Gulacsi.

The man of the match was Lukas Hradecky, who kept Leverkusen safe with a couple of fine saves to Werner’s attempts.

The victory and 3 points looked safe thanks to the Finnish stopped, but Hradecky was unable to stop the equalizer. Halstenberg set Nkunku for the finish and the Frenchman, signed this Summer to PSG, confirmed his 2nd goal of the season.

With this result, both teams have 14 points and are tied with 4 others. Although Leverkusen has the worst goal difference and is the last one of the group (7th).

Schalke 04 1 x 1 Koln

In a weekend of heavy emotions, Schalke 04 also had the chance to put themselves in the lead of Bundesliga. Unfortunately, they also had a late equalizer denying them the win.

Koln, who is in the relegation places in the league, with just 1 victory in the 6 games player, arrived at this game without much hope. Wagner’s Schalke looked like they had an easy task in their hands at the Veltins Arena.

A combination amongst two defenders, Salif Sane and Suat Serdar, set the German for his 3rd goal of the season.

However, Jonas Hector, captain of Koln, with the last effort, gave his team a last breath of hope and equalized. Kainz was responsible for the assist.

Koln remains 17th, while Schalke is 6th, but has also 14 points. Bayern Munich, Leipzig, Freiburg, Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen are currently all tied with the same points.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2 x 2 Werder Bremen

Further away from the top is Eintracht Frankfurt, who conceded a draw at home against Werder Bremen. The local side was down by one goal, turned the game around and let Bremen level in the last minute.

Davy Klaasen opened the score in the first half and took the visitors with the lead to the locker room. Sebastian Rode equalized for Frankfurt and in the 88 minute, Andre Silva scored on a rebound to put his team on the lead. This is the 3rd game in a row scoring for Silva, who has been signed from Milan this Summer.

However, in the last minute, the ref pointed to the spot and Milot Rashica had the duty to put the equalizer. He did not shake and scored his second in 2 games, after coming back from injury.

Eintracht Frankfurt, who had beaten Vitoria SC in Portugal last Thursday, for Europa League, is now 9th in the league. Bremen is 12th.

Hertha Berlin 3 x 1 Fortuna Dusseldorf

In the first game of matchday 7 of Bundesliga, Dusseldorf visited Hertha Berlin and they were hoping to escape the relegation zone. Hertha seems to be recovering from a shaky start and recorded their 3rd win in a row.

Hennings put Fortuna Dusseldorf in front from the penalty kick, but Hertha squared the match 3 minutes later. The experienced Bosnian striker Ibisevic proved he is vital for Hertha’s attack, scoring after a pass from Marius Wolf.

Just before the interval whistle, Dilrosun received a pass from Darida and put Hertha back in front. The Dutch winger scored his 3rd for Hertha in 5 games.

Finally, Darida himself put the last nail in Fortuna’s coffin, finishing after a pass from Lukebakio. Hertha jumped to 10th, while Fortuna is now 15th.

Paderborn 1 x 2 Mainz 05

A match between strugglers, as Paderborn hosted Mainz 05 looking for their first win. The team who has just ascended to Bundesliga has a single point so far and is rock bottom of the league. Mainz is also in the lower position and needed a win for relief.

The game was all decided in the first period. Quaison opened the score for Mainz within 8 points and Zolinski equaled the match just 6 minutes later.

However, Paderborn’s bad luck continues as the ref noticed a foul on the 32 minutes. Mainz 05 defender Brosinski was the one called to convert and he didn’t fail.

1-2 and Mainz are now 14th, while Paderborn continues condemned to the last place.

The Bundesliga schedule returns after the international break, on the 18th of October. Monchengladbach visits Dortmund and Leipzig plays Wolfsburg, so it is likely the table suffers changes again.

About Jorge Costa 140 Articles
Jorge Costa is a freelance journalist, with a Masters Degree in Journalism and Communication, through the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He specializes in sports and soccer in particular.

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