Joel Pahjanpalo of Leverkusen, busts right off the power ranking grid – Photo ESPN FC
By Brian Sanders
With the international break over the Bundesliga returned to our welcoming arms and did not disappoint with action each day. Lets take a look.
Match of the week must go to the match with the 11 minute hat-trick of Finnish star for Bayer Leverkusen Joel Pahjanpalo. HSV had taken the lead in the second half when USMNT memeber Bobby Wood dribbled past Bernd Leno and was looking worth their salt. Thats when the Pahjanpalo show started.
Julian Brandt made a run into the box, was found by Kevin Kampl, a one touch cross found an unmarked Pahjanpalo in the 78th and the match was tied up. The go ahead goal was from just above the penalty spot as Pahjanpalo, found by a streaking Benjamin Henrichs, volleyed the ball in at a great pace in the first minute of added time. The hat trick was completed as Chicharito, surrounded by three HSV defenders had the awareness to find the Finnish forward alone and it was little more than one touch and shoot to win the day 3-1 in the fourth minute of added time.
Another candidate for match of the week was the amazing comeback by Hoffenheim after trailing 4-1 to Mainz before the game was turned on its head when Gaetan Bussman was red carded in the 57th minute.
Mainz hit the ground running and found themselves with a 3-0 lead in the first half as Pablo De Blasis notched a first half brace and Jhon Cordoba accorded one before there was life from Hoffenheim. A Sandro Wagner goal seemed to give respectability to the match but Mainz followed with Levin Oztunali before the half ended. Second half Mark Uth scored a pair within moments of each other to give hope against 10 man Mainz and the party for the away fans was on as Hungarian Adam Szalai finished the comeback in the 84th.
Saturday’s Topspiel was the first home match for RB Leipzig as they hosted Borussia Dortmund. Much and more fan reactions to this club in the Bundesliga has been going on for years and a protest from a Dortmund fan group occurred as well for there were no ultras that made the trip to the former state of East Germany.
BVB had many things going for themselves, tackles won, passing percentage, number of passes completed, possession, touches on the ball. RB just out worked the famous Dortmund and manager Thomas Tuchel will be focused on getting his team to bounce back with the first Champions League group stage match this mid week. Leipzig can celebrate as new signings Naby Keita and Oliver Burke combined in the 89th minute to grab the matches only goal.
In the Hessian Derby both sets of fans urged their teams on. Darmstadt would come up lucky in the 90th minute as substitute Sandro Sirigu scored on the break to get the 1-0 victory for the hosts.
For Darmstadt they knew they could find success by sitting back and playing defensively while hitting on the counter attack. Frankfurt enjoyed 73% possession and their players had over six times the amount of touches on the ball, but their failure to procure any goals from this advantage was their downfall. Some feistiness occurred in the stands near the end of the match as after the goal a firework from the Darmstadt supporters was launched into the away end, as well as report of a Darmstadt supporter who also collapsed and perished in hospital. Both of these unfortunate events will for certain mar this fixture going forward with a Major black mark. Supporter based sanctions would not be a surprise here.
Elsewhere in the Bundeslgia
Bayern Munich visited Schalke ahead of both teams European adventures, while the Royal Blues looked good for it the Bavarian’s returned to Munich with a 2-0 win just in time for Oktoberfest to begin next weekend.
American Aron Johansson scored his first of the new season as he converted a penalty to give Werder Bremen an early lead, but Augsburg responded with a pair of goals from Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Kostas Stafylidis to give the visitors the full three points.
Hertha Berlin maintained their 100% record as they paid visit to FC Ingolstadt and returned to the capital city with a 2-0 victory. Americans John Anthony Brooks and Alfredo Morales both started for their teams while St Louis raised Vedad Ibisevic scored the first goal for Berlin.
Borussia Monchengladbach rotated some players in anticipation for mid week Champions League action against newly promoted SC Freiburg. The Black Forest club took advantage as they stormed to a 3-1 win with Maximilian Philipp the class of the day with two goals.
Lastly Wolfsburg and Koln played to a 0-0 draw in the first match for Wolves new signing Mario Gomez.
Six clubs from the Bundesliga have a short week with European matches in both the Champions League and the Europa League.
Borussia Monchengladbach has a tough first match as they visit English club Manchester City, currently lead by Pep Guardiola. Bayern Munich plays host to Russian surprise side FC Rostov. Bayer Leverkusen hosts reigning Russian champions CSKA Moscow. Lastly Borussia Dortmund has a short trip to Warsaw in Poland against Legia.
In the Europa League Mainz hosts tradition French club Saint-Etienne in their first ever European group stage match in club history. Schalke 04, winners of the 1997 edition of this tournament, pays visit to the south of France to take on Nice.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Joel Pahjanpalo was just amazing with his hat trick in 11 minutes. He turned the game on its head and can only now be the toast of his home country of Finland. Leverkusen has found a new card to play which the likes of the Bundesliga and Europe will need to keep close tabs on.
German Football term of the week
Bananenflanke- a curler, out swinging ball, loosely translates to banana ball
