Rounding up all of the weekend Bundesliga action, for 11/1/2014.
Schalke 1 - 0 Augsburg
Schalke wins ugly at home on a 36th minute goal by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Augsburg dominated possession and took the majority of shots, but were unable to generate any good chances, taking mostly long shots outside of the box. Schaalke's victory may be a pyrrhic one, as wunderkind Julian Draxler went down with a hamstring injury in the first minute.
Mainz 1 - 2 Werder Bremen
Werder Bremen picks up their first win of the season on the back of a brace by Franco Di Santo. Shinji Okazaki opened the scoring for Mainz in the 2nd minute, only to concede right before and after the halftime break. Di Santo, by the way, is quietly having a decent season this year, with seven goals eleven appearances this season, on pace to smash his previous single season record of seven goals in 32 appearances back in 10/11 for Wigan.
Hannover 1 - 0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht defender Alexander Madlung scores the only goal for the match... unfortunately, it was for the wrong side. Neither side was able to put much together in a match to forget. In particular, Frankfurt couldn't get out their own way, committing 20 fouls to Hannover's 13, and conceding 10 corners to Hannover's 4. With their third loss in a row Frankfurt continue their descent down the table.
Hamburg 1 - 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Hamburg pulled out a rare win in a very chippy match against Bayer. The two sides combined for more than 50 fouls in the match, When I play Football Manager Handheld, for whatever reason I can always count on Bayer keeper Bernd Leno to commit a stupid foul, concede a penalty, and get sent off, only for the AI to put a striker in goal. This is a long way of saying that Leno committed a dumb tackle in the box, conceding a penalty for the only goal of the match.
Stuttgart 0 - 4 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg stifles relegation fodder Stuttgart, making the most of their chances. This marks Wolfsburg's fifth straight win, currently tied for second place and only four points behind Bayern for first. With Schalke and Dortmund not looking like their normal selves, Wolfsburg is fighting with Monchengladbach for a Champions League spot.
Bayern Munich 2 - 1 Borussia Dortmund
Truly a loss that stabs at the heart of your resident blogger. Dortmund went ahead early on a Marco Reus sizzler but were unable to keep Arjen Robben and former BVB forward Robert Lewandowski out of the net. Mats Hummels went off early for Dortmund with a right foot injury. Though Bayern dominated the game, one bright spot was the play of Roman Weidenfeller, without whom things would likely have been much worse. Bayern maintain their lead at the top of the Bundesliga, while Dortmund continues to make my report card posts look foolish as they slip to 17th in the league.
Monchengladbach 3 - 1 Hoffenheim
In a matchup between two of this Bundesliga season's biggest surprises, Gladbach took a ho-hum victory over Hoffenheim, taking a 2-1 lead in the 31st minute and never looking back. Gladbach left winger Patrick Herrman tripled his goal tally for the season with a brace. A few more matches like this and Herrmann may start drawing some attention for the national side.
Cologne 0 - 1 Freiburg
Not too much to say here. Cologne dominated possession but neither side was particularly clinical in finishing. Cologne maintain mid-table status, while Freiburg takes their first win of the season.
Paderborn 3 - 1 Hertha Berlin
Early season surprise Paderborn cruise to a win. Hertha played a sloppy, overly-aggressive game, conceding almost twice as many fouls as Paderborn and often in dangerous places. Currently at 7th place, Paderborn is only one point off a spot in Europe. I can imagine a club like Tottenham visiting tiny little Paderborn in the Europa league, overly confident, getting their pants blown off, and I can't stop smiling.
