Best of Bundesliga: Der Klassiker, a wild night in Wolfsburg and Arp makes his mark
Good week for: Bayern Munich, Timo Werner, Jann-Fiete Arp, Domenico Tedesco
Bad week for: Peter Bosz, Freiburg, goalkeepers, the bottom two (again)
– When Jupp Heynckes took over at the beginning of October, Bayern Munich were five points behind Borussia Dortmund. They are now six clear of the side they swatted aside on Saturday night. That eleven point swing in seven games speaks as much of Bayern’s upturn as Dortmund’s struggles. Peter Bosz’ men had their chances on Saturday but the international break will feel a long one for BVB.
– Jann-Fiete Arp, 17, made his full Bundesliga debut for Hamburg on Saturday and sealed the win with the third in a 3-1 home win over Stuttgart, HSV’s first since late August. It’s his second goal for the club, after scoring off the bench in last week’s loss to Hertha Berlin. He was born in 2000, the year Arjen Robben made his professional debut. Robben’s opener for Bayern made him the club’s all-time leading foreign-born goalscorer.
– The final game of matchday 11 managed to pack as much in to 90 minutes as fans see in some entire weekends. Wolfsburg’s 3-3 draw with Hertha Berlin contained a Vedad Ibisevic goal after 20.6 seconds, two disallowed goals, a Mario Gomez penalty that rattled the bar, a goal that went in off both posts and a dramatic late equalizer. All of which means it’s seven draws from seven for Martin Schmidt since he took charge of the Wolves.
Davie Selke (center) rescued a point for Hertha in a six-goal thriller
– Domenico Tedesco’s Schalke sit in fourth spot and level on points with bitter rivals Dortmund after a 1-0 away win over struggling Freiburg. Schalke haven’t lost in 6 and have kept three clean sheets in that run.
– The dismissal of Alexander Nouri did little to change Werder Bremen’s fortunes. They succumbed to a late but brilliant Sebastien Haller strike against Frankfurt on Friday night. In contrast, Cologne have so far kept faith with Peter Stöger, but their 3-0 defeat to Hoffenheim on Sunday means the two sides are without a win between them after a combined 22 league matches this season.
Best quotes
“There are still seven months left to turn things in the Bundesliga around. Our players have already shown what they can do.” Peter Bosz on the future at Dortmund.
“It has never been a question of the system, it’s all up to us.” BVB midfielder Gonzalo Castro shoulders the blame on behalf of the players.
“My stomach wasn’t quite right but now everything is fine. I’m not contagious any more.” Joshua Kimmich, who trained and travelled alone in order to start for Bayern on Saturday.
“It wouldn’t be a problem in our eyes if the race for the championship title were boring.” Bayern defender Mats Hummels.
“Sure, we have plenty to work on. But in terms of what is possible, we can only go up.” Cologne boss Peter Stöger states the obvious.
Peter Stöger watches Cologne slump to another defeat
“Whether it was a good game of football or not doesn’t bother me – in our situation it isn’t about playing nice football, it’s only about points. We need to take a long hard look at ourselves after today.” Max Kruse fires out a warning to his Werder Bremen teammates.
“It wasn’t a good day at the office for us. We’re far from satisfied with our performance, in fact it was disappointing,” Borussia Mönchengladbach’s goalscorer Jannik Vestergaard.
“We’re happy as we got the win but, in the first half, we failed to get a grip on the game and Freiburg did very well. At half-time, we changed a few things and did much better afterwards. The game still shows though that we have work to do.” Domenico Tedesco still not entirely happy, despite Schalke’s recent form.
Bizarre Bundesliga
A weekend full of contenders, including basically the whole of the Wolfsburg vs. Hertha Berlin match on Sunday, can still only by won by one man. Step forward Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner.
The German goalkeeper became a social media star on Saturday for all the wrong reasons, as the clip below shows. With his side 1-0 up against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Zentner controlled a backpass on the penalty spot and looked up before playing a simple pass to teammate. Except he forgot the ball. After connecting with thin air, the 23-year-old just about recovered with Gladbach’s Lars Stindl breathing down his neck.
“In the corner of my eye, I could see something white and I thought it was the ball – but it was the penalty spot and the ball was somewhere else,” he told the Bundesliga website after the game.
“I went to play a pass into the center but I didn’t make contact with the ball, and then I realized it wasn’t even there.”
Injuries
Sokratis was removed just before the break in Dortmund’s loss to Bayern Munich. The Greek defender appeared to be suffering from an ankle complaint.
Salif Sane sustained a foot injury in his side’s loss to Leipzig, though it’s not thought to be too serious.
Jean-Kevin Augustin was missing for RB Leipzig in the same game. The French striker has a thigh injury that is likely to keep him out for 2 to 3 weeks.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Wolfsburg 3-3 Hertha Berlin
Hertha Berlin striker Davie Selke celebrates in front of the travelling Hertha fans in the Volkswagen Arena after scoring a late equalizer for his team. Hertha took an early lead but had to come from behind twice in the second half in a dramatic game of disallowed goals and missed penalties.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Cologne 0 – 3 Hoffenheim
Pawel Olkowski looks on in despair after referee Deniz Aytekin awards the penalty that handed Hoffenheim their second goal, one of two scored by Sandro Wagner. Olkowski took out Mark Uth just after the break on another desperate day for Cologne, who are still without a league win this season.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Freiburg 0-1 Schalke
Daniel Caligiuri (r) celebrates with Bastian Oczipka after scoring the winner for Schalke in a close match against Freiburg. Caligiuri’s shot was deflected past Alexander Schwolow in the 62nd minute to give the Royal Blues their third win in four games.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
RB Leipzig 2-1 Hannover
Germany international Timo Werner celebrates after putting RB Leipzig ahead against Hannover with just five minutes remaining. The 21-year-old tapped home from close range after Emil Forsberg had volleyed across goal. Earlier, Werner had set up Yussuf Poulsen’s equalizer.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 Mainz 05
Defender Jannik Vestergaard gets up above the Mainz defense to head home the equalizing goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Foals have dropped to seventh in the Bundesliga table.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Augsburg 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen’s Charles Aranguiz and Augsburg’s Michael Gregoritsch compete for the ball during their teams’ 1-1 draw. Both goals fell early in the second half as Augsburg’s Kevin Danso canceled out Kevin Volland’s opener.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Hamburg 3-1 Stuttgart
Seventeen-year-old Jann-Fiete Arp (l) celebrates scoring Hamburg’s third goal on what was his first Bundesliga start. The goal – Arp’s second in the top flight – secured Hamburg’s first Bundesliga win since Matchday two.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Borussia Dortmund 1-3 Bayern Munich
Arjen Robben’s goal against Borussia Dortmund was a moment of magic that changed the game. It was also the goal that made the Dutchman Bayern’s all-time foreign top scorer in the Bundesliga with 93 goals.
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Bundesliga Matchday 11
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Werder Bremen
Sebastien Haller was the hero for Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring a sensational 89th minute volley to win the game. It was Haller’s first shot of the game but his fifth goal of the season, as he underlines his importance to Niko Kovac’s side. Bremen, meanwhile, are without a Bundesliga win in 14. That stretches back to last season and is their longest ever run without a Bundesliga victory.