Plastico derbies, Munich drop points late, Stuttgart fall again, and BVB squeak it out. This and more from the Bundesliga in Matchday 10.
Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena usually don’t lose. Ask the top teams in Europe, it doesn’t happen. From a late winning position, though, they gave up two points as they drew with SC Freiburg 1-1.
Not so much of a crime against humanity, but FC Bayern is a team that doesn’t drop points to many teams. Freiburg is a team that has constant turnover to keep the budget balanced and therefore can’t move forward very far. Until Serge Gnabry’s goal, a very individual effort in the 80th minute, Bayern was a team lacking ideas or the mental strength to go and grab all three points. By bossing a midfield that they should on paper be the ones against the wall, summer signing Lucas Holer scored on a counter attack that should only be seen by higher echelon teams, and yet the Black Forest club comes out smelling like roses.
The jokes of El Plastico stem from the non-traditional nature of each club. Hoffenheim looked far the better team in their 4-1 win over Leverkusen.
A brace from Joelinton was what was needed for Hoffenheim as the club retools the team once again. With a constant foray into Europe balancing things out, Julian Naglesmann has found a way to keep things not only fresh but also strong in taking on each and every team. Leverkusen is still not cleaned up, but it seems to be that only a matter of time before there’s a coaching change.
Eintracht Frankfurt entered the Mercedes Benz Arena to face an in-pain Stuttgart and the fans left in joyous fashion with a 3-0 victory. The Eagles sixth win in seven has Frankfurt soaring up the league, the Swabians lost their fourth consecutive in the Bundesliga.
Since the coaching change from Tayfun Korkut to Markus Weinzierl, Stuttgart has continued their struggles. Eleven goals conceded and zero goals scored and against Frankfurt they did little better. From the kickoff, there was no question who would win as Ante Rebic scored and had a goal called back while Sebastian Haller netted a league leading seventh goal. With Europe on Thursday, the Eagles look to be keeping the momentum going.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga:
Borussia Dortmund put away Wolfsburg in a match that the scoreline did not lend to how things went. With the 1-0 win, the BVB continues to sit atop the Bundesliga with four-point gap between them and second place Borussia Monchengladbach.
Mainz shocked the league with a 2-1 win over high flying Werder Bremen. With 05’s first win since August, there’s some serious distance from relegation zone and their midtable position.
Borussia Monchengladbach defeating Fortuna Dusseldorf in the first Rhineland derby of the year 3-0 saw the Foals to second in the table.
Schalke defeat of Hannover by 3-1 before Europe commences should see the Royal Blues out of their current rut in the Bundesliga as they move to 14th in the table.
Nurnberg will feel the better of the Bavarian derby as they earned a 2-2 draw with FC Augsburg.
Leipzig looked to move further up the table and in Berlin they did so 3-0 as they move up to fourth in the table.
Bundesliga POTW: Timo Werner’s brace is a massive boost for the player in the 3-0 win in Berlin. With a Europa League match and one more Bundesliga match before the international break, the German international needs to be hitting into full stride and performance and continuing this form will make it happen.
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
