Featured Game – Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Hoffenheim

Three games down, only 31 left to play. The 2021/22 Bundesliga is very much still in its early stages, but that does not mean there is a lack of entertainment. The goals flowed on Matchday three – 32 across nine games – and it all began with a cracker under the Friday night floodlights at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund. Hoffenheim were in town and, rather peculiarly, sat above their hosts in the table. Although, trying to read anything into the league standings at this stage would be a task almost certainly in vain, and Borussia did not lack incentive to take care of their visitors after defeat last time out away to Freiburg. Nevertheless, this game was never going to be one-sided. Hoffenheim are a team capable of giving anyone a run for their money on their day, as they proved last year at the same ground, demolishing their Black and Yellow opponents 4-0. Andrej Kramaric netted all four that day, but the Hoffenheim talisman is yet to get off the mark this campaign. No better time to do it than against Dortmund again.

Kramaric nor anyone else for that matter had any luck in front of goal in the opening 45 though. The match was fluid and entertaining, as expected. However, chances were hard to come by for either side and half time arrived with the scores still level at 0-0. The pattern of play was fairly predictable: the home team having more of the ball, more half-chances, while their visitors counterattacked. This seemed to suit both sides, and Hoffenheim’s ability to string moves together quickly on the break kept the contest always in the balance. Even after they fell behind.

Just four minutes into the second period, the game’s first really presentable opportunity arrived, and it came for Borussia Dortmund’s young American Gio Reyna. The 18-year-old may be just that, a teenager, but he demonstrated great composure when the chance came to hand his team the lead. He received a pass on the edge of the penalty box from his even younger teammate, Jude Bellingham, set himself with a touch, and precisely curled the ball into the bottom corner beyond the diving Oliver Baumann. Dortmund were one-up and now the task was to keep it that way. However, that was easier said than done, as Hoffenheim looked to respond.

They say you are at your most vulnerable when you have just scored, but that saying usually refers to a lack of concentration after going ahead and therefore opens up the opportunity for the opposing team to strike. After Reyna’s goal, it was slightly different. Dortmund appeared to be well organised in the minutes following, as Hoffenheim became the team on top, understandably, in search of an equalizer. Rather than the hosts switching off, Hoffenheim’s chance to level the game once more came about through a wondrous bit of play. With Dortmund sitting back, the away side’s midfield was afforded that bit more time, which Denis Geiger exploited perfectly. He spotted the run of his attacker and played a superb ball with the outside of his right foot into the opposing penalty area and in behind the defence. It just so happened that the attacker was, like Reyna for Dortmund, a young rising star who has caught many people’s eyes over the course of the last year or so. Christoph Baumgartner for Hoffenheim has been producing a number of good moments, sometimes creating for others, but mostly finishing off chances supplied for him and he repeated the trick here. When played in with Geiger’s delicious pass, the Austrian Baumgartner dispatched a shot, firing the ball into the far bottom corner from the right-hand side of the six-yard box. Gregor Kobel had no chance of preventing the scores being levelled in the Dortmund goal.

It appeared the youngsters were going to be the ones to try and get a grip of the game for their respective sides, and the trend continued after the first two goals. Remember Jude Bellingham who supplied Reyna for the go-ahead Dortmund goal? It is impossible forget the teenage Brummie, who became the world’s most expensive 17-year-old when he transferred from the English Second City to Germany, joining his current side for an initial £25 million. His stock has rapidly risen since then, and any potential suitors now would have to fork out a number of times that fee to lure him away from the clutches of the Gelbschwarzen, who absolutely adore their Midlands boy. If they could possibly any more, he added the second goal for the home team with a rasping left-footed volley to re-establish the advantage for Dortmund and send the fans in the stands into raptures. That set them on course to pick up a second league victory of the campaign, but nothing is certain until the final whistle in football. There was plenty of drama yet to come.

Various studies on the effectiveness of corner kicks has shown that one goal is scored in roughly every 60 corners taken. That stat makes corner kicks seem much less exciting than how fans often receive the award of one in a game. However, one fact about corners that does not need backing up with statistical evidence is that corners are much more dangerous when one team is hanging on for a result, whether that be a draw or a win. All over the footballing world, every fan has experienced the jubilation of scoring an injury time goal from a corner situation, but also the crushing feeling of watching your team not able to defend one in the dying seconds. Points and even trophies have been famously won and lost through a corner kick being converted into a goal, but none of that helped Borussia Dortmund prevent the exact same happening to them in the 90th minute against Hoffenheim. Time, and more importantly the Dortmund defenders, seemed to stand still as the ball was swung into the box, flicked on with the head of Hoffenheim’s Kevin Akpoguma, and turned in at the far post by the unmarked Munas Dabbur. The Israeli striker had the freedom of the Dortmund six-yard box as he got a toe to the assist from Akpoguma, and it appeared as if he had snatched a point at the death for the visitors.

The game moved into stoppage time. Less than a minute after being so cruelly pegged back by the Dabbur equalizer, the home team were on the charge again. It is amazing what resolve top players can find when in the final stages of a match and chasing a goal. The saying came to fruition once more: you are at your most vulnerable when you have just scored. The German equivalent must have been ringing in the ears of Hoffenheim boss Sebastian Hoeneß, as he watched his team racing back towards their goal with Borussia carrying the ball in the same direction. Not just any Dortmund player too, but their star man Erling Haaland, who had not been given a chance all game. Now was not the moment to let him have one from Hoffenheim’s perspective. Stopping Haaland is one of the hardest tasks for a Bundesliga defender, but it looked like the visiting back line had done so when Haaland broke into the penalty area on the left-hand side, only to be quickly surrounded. With no chance for a shot, he opted to drill a low cross across the box, finding Marius Wolf. The man on loan at Köln last term tried his luck at goal but was denied by keeper Baumann. The youngest man on the pitch at just 16, Youssoufa Moukoko, attempted to do what his fellow youthful Dortmund attackers had done earlier in the game, and get on the score sheet. He swung his leg at the loose ball after Baumann could only parry Wolf’s effort. However, Moukoko also found the Hoffenheim goalkeeper in his way. Third time was the charm for the hosts though: as the ball rebounded off the outstretched arms of Baumann in making his second of the double-save, it fell to the one man on the pitch that would never pass up an opportunity to win the game in the 91st minute. Despite the six-yard box being packed with players from both teams, it seemed written in the stars for Erling Haaland to be the one to latch onto the ball and lash it home, high into the roof of the net. The fans went crazy, but Haaland went crazier, visibly elated after bagging the injury time victory-clincher in the game of the Bundesliga season so far.

The three points put Dortmund up to a more reasonable fifth place in the table for them, but not losing further ground on the likes of Wolfsburg and Bayern after last week’s disappointment will be the most pleasing thing for coach Marco Rose. That, and his side showing something of a fighting spirit at the start of a season where the title could turn out to be more than a faint possibility for Dortmund.

The Games Keep Coming

Stuttgart 2-3 Freiburg

With Köln facing Bochum in a local derby, Union hosting Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg entertaining Leipzig in a battle of title contenders, few may have suspected that the match between two teams placed ninth and tenth respectively last season would serve up a typically action-packed Bundesliga encounter. However, Stuttgart and Freiburg finished level on points last term, both playing free-flowing football that saw them score goals, but also concede a few at the other end. So, in truth, this contest could not have been more perfectly set up for an end-to-end basketball-style game. Although the score line may suggest that the pattern of play was constantly swinging back and forth, the match actually took a very different form.

From the off, there only seemed to be one side in it. The visitors started at lightning speed, but it was their South Korean winger, Jeong Woo-yeong, who really took the game by storm. He profited from a delightfully accurate Christian Günter cross from the left flank in just the third minute. Left unmarked in the middle, he stooped to head an effort into the corner to give the away side the early advantage in rather unfamiliar fashion for the pacey forward player. To the dismay of the hosts, that was not the end of the early Freiburg charge and Jeong especially was not done yet. He collected an overhit corner on the left-hand side of the penalty area and hit a sweet strike with his weaker foot into the roof of the net at a venomous speed that gave the goalkeeper no hope. This happened all before the tenth minute. The man between the posts for Stuttgart was Florian Müller who spent last season on loan at Freiburg from then parent club Mainz, before making a permanent transfer to his current side to replace the departed Gregor Kobel. Müller’s day had got off to a bad start against his former team, but worse was yet to come.

Not that the keeper could do much about any of the Freiburg goals. The clock did not even read half an hour before it was 3-0 and the third came about through another bit of top-quality play. Another cross into the box was met with the head of a Freiburg attacker, but this time instead of Günter and Jeong combining, Roland Sallai was the player to provide the inch-perfect delivery for Lucas Höler, a striker much more accustomed to powering them home with his forehead. The assist came from the right wing on this occasion and Höler crept between two defenders to get to the ball first. His attempt at goal was only ever going one place – the back of the net. From close range he was never going to miss and all Müller could do in goal was raise a glove in vain.

From this position, Freiburg would never have expected to lose control of the game in the way they did. Their lead was made to seem very precarious indeed and very quickly too, before half time in fact. On-loan Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos was sent out to play for Stuttgart from Premier League side Arsenal to gain some experience of trying to keep goals out in one of Europe’s top leagues. His parent club would not have been expecting the centre-half to discover that he should really be playing as a tricky attacking midfielder, but that is what is seemed his did in the last minute of normal time in the opening period. Mavropanos jinked past a whole host of opposing defenders, albeit with a stroke of fortune to keep possession of the ball more than once, but his determination saw him break through the opposing back line, into the six-yard box where he unleashed a powerful finish high into the net that Robert Lewandowski would have been proud of. 3-1 and hope restored for the hosts at the end of the half. Well, not quite the end.

Unbelievably, the first 45 would offer even more drama before its conclusion. Freiburg’s wide players had supplied two great assists from the wings already in this game, but now it was the turn of Stuttgart’s captain Wataru Endo to pick out his striker Hamadi Al Ghaddioui in the middle of the penalty area in the second minute of injury time. Endo’s cross was just as precise as the two that preceded it and the six-foot three centre-forward was on hand to add the final touch in the box with his head to make the score read 2-3 still in the visitors’ favour.

What a first half of Bundesliga football. It was a shame the second half was nothing like it. All the players must have been exhausted by their earlier exertions, but also cautious that if the game remained in the same pattern, the flow of goals could leave their side cut adrift. Al Ghaddioui did have one last chance right at the end, again after a delicious cross into the area, but he could only head over this time around. If the two halves had been flipped, with all the drama of the first period coming right at the end of the contest, imagine what a game this would have been with Stuttgart so nearly coming from 3-0 down to equalize. Freiburg boss Christian Streich heaved a huge sigh of relief at full-time as the Black Forest side continue their impressive start to the campaign, still unbeaten and in the top four after three matchdays. Furthermore, with Freiburg’s lack of players who represent their nations, the international break could pose an invaluable couple of weeks’ rest for the squad. They may a team more ready than most for the next set of Bundesliga fixtures. Perhaps a dark horse for Europe this season?

Wolfsburg 1-0 RB Leipzig

Arguably the most hotly anticipated clash of Matchday three in the Bundesliga turned out to be one of the dullest affairs. However, that was perhaps not such a surprise, as both Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig hold top four ambitions at least and neither would have wanted to lose ground or give the other an early advantage in the race for the upper reaches of the table. Therefore, the game turned out to be one of few clear-cut chances. While both teams boast lethal attacks, capable of putting four or five past an opponent on their day, it is easy to forget that they both also have a solid defensive unit in their squad. In the first two league games of the season, the sides had shipped merely a goal a-piece and with a tougher test against a fellow Champions League team, the focus on the back line was only increased.

While Wolfsburg fielded a rear guard comprised of the same defenders that had so much success last campaign, helping their side return to Europe’s elite competition for the first time since the 2015/16 season, RB Leipzig have had something of a summer reshuffle. They sold Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate to Bayern München and Liverpool respectively, both for big fees, but brought in two new young faces to be part of the back line. Mohamed Simakan, 21, and Josko Gvardiol, 19, could see their careers take off like it has done for so many in Leipzig. They both performed reasonably well in defence and restricted Wolfsburg to only one real opportunity of not in the first half, but even that came from outside the area. Ridle Baku, celebrating his first senior Germany call-up for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, tried his luck following a corner, only to see his curling left-footed effort tipped over the crossbar by Peter Gulacsi. Simakan probably had the Red Bulls’ most promising chance at the other end in the opening period. He so nearly profited when Gvardiol headed the ball down from a Dominik Szoboszlai free kick. Simakan latched onto the ball, although, off balance, he hooked his effort over the bar.

Shots at goal tended to be from range throughout. However, when a good chance from closer in did fall somebody’s way, it was taken. The source of the goal though was rather surprising. Wout Weghorst is the usual predator in the box for the Wolves, but he was not the man on-hand to score for the home side in this one. He actually spurned a fantastic chance later on when a loose Forsberg pass played the big Dutchman right in on goal. Weghorst lacked his usual composure and fired well over the bar, letting Leipzig off the hook. The miss did not turn out to be costly for Wolfsburg though, as the unusual hero of Jerome Roussillon had already advanced from his left-back role to win the game for the hosts. What he was doing in the centre of the opposing penalty box seven minutes after half time is anyone’s guess and his presence was either undetected or not deemed a threat by Leipzig, because he was left all alone. Regardless, the visitors paid when Renato Steffen’s low cross was not gathered by Gulacsi and Frenchman Roussillon was there with all the time in the world to stroke the ball home for 1-0.

The away side could find no breakthrough of their own, however, and try as they might the score line remained the same until the final whistle. Willi Orban had the best of their chances late on from a corner, which evaded everybody in the middle except for the Hungarian centre-half. The ball came at him too quickly though, giving him no time to readjust. In these situations from such close range, so often the ball just hits the attacking player and goes in. Orban had no such luck. The ball deflected wide off of his leg: a sign that it simply was not to be Leipzig’s day. Victory at the Volkswagen Arena made it three in a row at the start of the new season for Wolfsburg, who remain the early front-runners in the Bundesliga. Their squad is more experienced and well-tuned after a few campaigns together. Weghorst always poses a threat, even if he was not firing against Leipzig. But the Wolves have strengthened in the transfer market too, and now possess a plethora of dangerous forward players. Young Lukas Nmecha has already had international success at youth level, winning the under-21 European Championship with Germany. His performance at the tournament was a key factor in the decision to bring him back to domestic German football. However, he will have to fight for a place with Maximilian Philipp’s loan move made permanent and Luca Waldschmidt another player returning to Germany to play for Wolfsburg, after a spell in the Portuguese capital with Benfica. The Wolves look hungry for success and, despite it only being three games, no one yet looks like preventing them from getting it.

Rest of the Round-Up

Mainz 3-0 Greuther Fürth

After surprisingly beating last season’s second-placed side Leipzig on opening day, Mainz perhaps even more surprisingly fell to defeat at the hands of new boys Bochum on Matchday two. They took on another newly promoted team in their third game and this time the ride was much smoother. Anderson Lucoqui, signed from Bielefeld in the summer, started the scoring on the quarter hour mark before captain Adam Szalai doubled the hosts’ lead just three minutes later to effectively seal the tie. Kevin Stöger popped up in the area in injury time at the end of the game to really put a gloss on the score line, meaning Mainz move onto six points. However, another resounding loss to go with their one in their first match back in the Bundesliga away to Stuttgart has shown that top-flight life is not going to be that easy for Fürth. They trail an aggregate 9-2 from the first three rounds.

Köln 2-1 Bochum

About an hour’s drive separates these two teams from the West, but they had not met in the top tier for eleven years. At points in this game, it seemed like it would take that long again for someone to hit the net. Not that the match was short on chances but, try as the players might, no one could find the target. That was until Louis Schaub was taken off the bench in the 78th minute and he only needed four to get himself into the scoring mood, getting on the end of a Florian Kainz cross to steer home with fewer than ten minutes of normal time remaining. Then in stoppage time it all kicked off. Young Tim Lemperle combined with another Köln academy graduate Tomas Ostrak to make it two for the home side, but Simon Zoller still found time to grab a consolation goal right at the end for Bochum. Nonetheless, there was nothing left on the clock and the Billy Goats took the win regardless.

Arminia Bielefeld 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

This game was the story of two new summer acquisitions, one for each side. As a player at a new club, it is always helpful to score in your first few matches, but a there is nothing like a debut goal to endear yourself to the supporters. Frankfurt’s Jens Petter Hauge had managed that on Matchday one away to Dortmund. However, that goal came right at the end of a 5-2 defeat, therefore when he found the net again to put his team ahead in Bielefeld, it must have been much more satisfying. Although, not quite as satisfying as what Arminia new boy Patrick Wimmer came up with four minutes from time. He had only entered the game five minutes earlier, but was able to find a rocket in his right boot to hammer home an equalizer from outside the penalty area. The 20-year-old Austrian caught the eye of his new side with his quick and exciting wing play in his spell with former club Austria Wien, but if he can deliver the sort of goals he pulled off on debut too, the Bielefeld fans are going to love him.

Augsburg 1-4 Bayer Leverkusen

Augsburg hate playing Leverkusen. The Bavarians have never beaten their bogey side in the Bundesliga and after the showing on Matchday three, they perhaps never will. Augsburg boss Markus Weinzierl would have known what a tough task lay ahead of his team before kick-off, therefore would not have wanted to give the opposition any sort of a helping hand. However, the hosts found themselves 2-0 inside a quarter of an hour, despite no Bayer player having scored a goal. Instead, first Brazilian defender Iago inexplicably chipped his own goalkeeper in the third minute when rushing back towards goal, before Florian Niederlechner glanced a header into his team’s net in perfect fashion, if only he had meant it. The German striker did manage one at the right end before the break to half the self-inflicted deficit, but Leverkusen quashed any sort of a fightback from the home side with a couple of late goals. They did actually have to score them themselves this time, but Patrik Schick had no problem in doing that for the visitors’ third, sweeping home an effort into the top corner. Teenager Florian Wirtz added the Bayer fourth to ramp home their advantage and seal Augsburg’s defeat. Safe to say that the Werkself will not be welcome back any time soon.

Bayern München 5-0 Hertha Berlin

Capital club Hertha were the only team left after two games yet to pick up a point. Therefore, a trip to the Allianz Arena to play champions Bayern would not have been especially welcome. In truth, it is hard to predict what sort of Bayern will turn up at home. They usually get the job done, but last season they did not always make it easy for themselves, conceding early goals and having to fight back into games. There was no such trouble against Hertha. As a visiting side to München, you might not know which Bayern is going to turn up, but you will sure enough know which Robert Lewandowski – a deadly one. Müller and Musiala were mere bit parts, as they both scored in what was really the Lewandowski show once more. His 15th Bundesliga hattrick blew Berlin away and his attacking dominance was arguably best encapsulated when he leapt high over the head of Hertha’s six-foot four-inch centre half Dedryck Boyata to head home his team’s second goal. Everybody knows he is superhuman, but he still continues to astound.

Union Berlin 2-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Niko Gießelmann had only ever scored one Bundesliga goal before this season, back in his days with now second-tier Fortuna Düsseldorf. After he found the back of Hoffenheim’s net in Union’s last game, he must have been feeling pretty confident in front of goal and he used this newfound striker’s touch to put Berlin ahead at home to Gladbach. Unlike capital city rivals Hertha, Union have been flying lately, both at the start of this season and the back end of the last. They are also involved in Europe this campaign, where they will take part as one of the first teams in the inaugural Europa Conference League. Union will hope that their deadly duo up front, Awoniyi and Kruse, can translate their domestic form onto the continental stage, because no German defence seems to be able to cope with them at the moment. They combined to make it 2-0 at the Stadion an der Alten Försterei with veteran Kruse setting up his younger counterpart Awoniyi, making the Nigerian the first player to score in all three opening Bundesliga games in Union’s history. Mönchengladbach’s Jonas Hofmann tried to sour the victorious mood around the throwback stadium with a late goal for the visiting team, but nothing was going to stop Union from claiming the three points. A 2-1 win kept them unbeaten and looking strong at the start of 2021/22.

A Few Words On… Jens Petter Hauge

Although he may not have been the most high-profile players to make a move to the Bundesliga in the summer window, Jens Petter Hauge is turning out to be a rather good signing for Frankfurt, after his switch to German football from Italy with AC Milan. While currently on loan, a clause in his contract means the transfer would be made permanent if Eintracht avoid relegation. The fee just over £10 million that the club would have to pay is already starting to look fairly reasonable with just three games gone. After netting on debut at the Signal Iduna Park, Hauge’s second of the season against Bielefeld made him the team’s early top scorer in the league. However, followers of the Italian Serie A would know from the glimpses of Hauge playing for Milan that goals are not the primary part of his game. Eintracht may have unlocked a new ability on their player, almost as if in a video game, discovering a knack for goals that the Italians failed to see. Hauge was more commonly seen setting up the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the Rossoneri, using his tricky wing play to create opportunities for his forwards. Therefore, it may be Eintracht’s new Colombian striker Rafael Santos Borre who really benefits from the acquisition of the young Norwegian. Borre, who was signed on a free transfer after he was released by Argentine club River Plate, should have a more than plentiful supply of assists this campaign with Hauge in the team, not to mention Frankfurt’s creator-in-chief Filip Kostic on the opposite flank.

What to Look Forward to Next Matchday

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Borussia Dortmund

Union Berlin vs. Augsburg

Freiburg vs. Köln

Greuther Fürth vs. Wolfsburg

Hoffenheim vs. Mainz

RB Leipzig vs. Bayern München

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Stuttgart

Bochum vs. Hertha Berlin

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Arminia Bielefeld

With the new Bundesliga season nicely up and running, the players now will turn their attention to international football for the next week or so before they return to domestic action in a fortnight’s time. However, waiting for fans after the international break is a Bundesliga Matchday four from the heavens.

The two match ups that jump out straight away are Leverkusen hosting Dortmund and the small matter of the top two from last season facing-off when Bayern travel to Leipzig. Although, there are a number of other games that are certainly not to be ignored.

Namely, the Freiburg-Köln clash throws together two teams who have started the season in unexpected fashion, both with two wins to their name already and the hosts still unbeaten. Hoffenheim against Mainz is sure to be a close-run thing as well between two sides who are also on the up. Then there is the potential of a shock result in Fürth, as flawless Wolfsburg up to this point put their 100% record on the line at the Sportpark Ronhof in the newly promoted side’s toughest test yet. The remaining games look good too!