Matchday 5 Match of the Week

There was no Match of the Week for Matchday 4.  I didn't see a game worth writing about.  

At the start of Mainz’s match with visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach [BMG], they stood at the bottom of the Bundesliga with zero points.  hey had scored only two goals while giving up twelve. They began the season with two losses to RB Leipzig [3-1] and VfB Stuttgart [4-1] on Bundesliga Matchdays 1 and 2 respectively.  These poor results cost head coach Achim Beierlorzer his job.  Beierlorzer was the second Bundesliga coach to be fired this season [Schalke coach David Wagner got the sack earlier the same week].   Mainz replaced Four games into the new season, Mainz are already staring relegation in the face.

BMG took the early lead when team captain Lars Stindl turned in a neat knock-down from striker Breel Embolo from close range. Mainz could have been forgiven for thinking “here we go again,” but Mainz striker Jean-Philippe Mateta teed up midfielder Jean-Paul Boetius for a golden opportunity to equalize soon after – though he placed a weak shot straight at BMG goalie Yann Sommer. In a case of being in the right place at the right time, at the 23-minute mark Mateta brought them level with their next opportunity, converting the rebound after striker Robin Quaison hit the post. At the half-hour mark, BMG striker Patrick Herrmann bounced a volley onto the top of the crossbar, it was the hosts who struck next. Mateta managed to hold off four defenders before turning and driving a low shot into the bottom corner of Sommer's goal. Mainz goalie Robin Zentner then preserved Mainz's lead until the break, most notably from another Herrmann effort.  For once, the Fußballgötter were smiling on Mainz.

Zentner was given some early work to do in the second half too, turning away Herrmann's shot before defender Moussa Niakhate covered behind him to clear Embolo's shot on the rebound off the line. BMG coach Marco Rose reacted by making four substitutions, with strikers Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea both sent on [a net addition of one striker], and the tactical tinkering eventually paid off with Thuram earning a penalty when his shot was handled by Niakhate. Fellow substitute Hofmann sent Zentner the wrong way from the spot, and the speed with which he fished the ball out of the back of the net emphasized how keen BMG were on getting more than just a point. BMG grabbed the win thanks to a flying header from defender Matthias Ginter seven minutes from full time. Mainz are still dwelling in the cellar with five straight defeats, while BMG moved up to eighth place with eight points.   RB Leipzig continue to lead with thirteen points, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund close behind with twelve each.

 

 

Matchday 3 Match of the Week

This week there weren’t very many competitive games to choose from.  Dortmund rebounded from their defeat in the German Super Cup to Bayern Munich by thrashing SC Freiburg 4-0.  RB Leipzig did likewise, adding to Schalke’s misery of a season by winning 4-0.  Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated FC Köln 3-1.  Werder Bremen, who escaped relegation last season, recorded their second win of the season, defeating Arminia Bielefeld 1-0.  Stuttgart and Leverkusen shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw.

Last week, Hoffenheim scored one on their best victories ever by beating Bayern Munich 4-1.  They stopped the defending Bundesliga and UCL champions 33-game undefeated run with an impressive victory.  They were trying to add to their great start to this season with a third win in as many games.  They finished last week at the top of the Bundesliga first division table.  Eintracht Frankfurt have had a solid start to their season as well, having drawn with Bielefeld on MD 1 and earning a convincing win against Hertha Berlin last week.  Both teams have had unbeaten starts to the new season.  Last season, Frankfurt swept both games against Hoffenheim.

Frankfurt nearly got on the board first.  Dutch forward Bas Dost began the attack with a quick outlet pass to defender Almany Touré running down the right side. Touré passed it back to Dost, who was centered in the Hoffenheim penalty area. Dost headed the ball to forward André Silva, but the two didn’t connect.  Touré’s pass to Dost was on the money, but Dost couldn’t seal it.  A good effort, but no score. For the next ten minutes, Frankfurt kept pressing Hoffenheim’s defense but couldn’t quite find the mark.  Despite all of Frankfurt’s pressure, it was Hoffenheim who struck first at the eighteenth minute. After a free kick, Croatian forward Andrej Kramarić found himself inside the Frankfurt penalty area to the right of the goalie, and he curled it inside the left post just out of reach of Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp.  It was Kramarić’s sixth goal of the season, his first career goal against Frankfurt. Kramarić’s goal was the only score of the first half.

Frankfurt finally even the score at the 54th minute when they finally cracked open Hoffenheim’s defense.  Ex-Hoffenheim midfielder Steven Zuber, substituting for the injured Filip Kostić, whipped a stunning ball into the Hoffenheim box, where a waiting Bas Dost flicked it to midfielder Daichi Kamada, who put the ball past Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann.  Score tied, 1-1.  On the ensuing kickoff, sloppy Hoffenheim play almost resulted in a second Frankfurt score in two minutes.  Luckily for Hoffenheim Zuber and Touré couldn’t quite connect in the box.  There was miscommunication on Hoffenheim’s defense.

I don’t know what Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter said to his players at halftime, but whatever it was it worked.  Frankfurt’s attack was relentless.  After they scored the equalizer, Frankfurt didn’t let Hoffenheim settle into any kind of offensive rhythm.  Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann was screaming at his defense for much of the second half.  Frankfurt often had Hoffenheim on their back foot, but Hoffenheim refused to go away.  They managed to mount a challenge to Frankfurt’s defense, but at the 71^st Frankfurt scored again on a counterattack.  Things got a bit crowded in front of Hoffenheim’s net, but Bas Dost was able to make sense of the chaos and scored, putting Frankfurt in front 2-1. It was Dost’s sixth career goal against Hoffenheim.  The score stood at 2-1 when the referee blew the final whistle.

Postscript

I wrote this on Saturday thinking “there won’t be a better game than this tomorrow.  Not for the first time, I was wrong.  I was traveling today and didn’t watch anything live today.  I kept an eye on the Augsburg-Wolfsburg match, which ended on a goalless draw.  “So far, good”. Then Bayern Munich played Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena in Munich.  Hertha always gives Bayern a good game.  Last year on Matchday 1, Hertha drew with Bayern, which began Niko Kovač’s slide toward unemployment.  What did I miss? Not much, just a 7-goal thriller that was decided by a Robert Lewandowski penalty kick in stoppage time.  Lewandowski scored all four of Bayern’s goals today.  What else did I miss? Bayern coach Hansi Flick smiled today. 😊