FRIDAY: Hoffenheim 1-2 Leverkusen
Controversy doesn't do this game justice. Hoffenheim deserved all three points from the game in truth, with Modeste showing why he's one of the league's most feared strikers, as both Wollscheid and Toprak picked up bookings early on while trying to keep him quiet. Sidney Sam, who now has a combined total of ten goals and assists opened the scoring for Leverkusen, who then had to rely on Bernd Leno who seems to have thrown off all his critics, denying Modeste at point blank. Kevin Volland had a goal ruled out, wrongly shortly after, and yes, this was all before half-time.
Into the second half, and chaos insued, the home side got a penalty (which wasn't) and Salihovic converted to deservedly bring the home side level, then came the major talking point. Stefan Keissling headed wide from a corner, but the netting was cut and the ball went into the net via the outside, the linesman give it and Hoffenheim were furious. Previously, this happened when Bayern played Nurnberg, when Helmer scored a "phantom goal" and the appeal from Nurnberg was upheld and the game replayed. On a positive for Leverkusen, they sat atop the Bundesliga for the first time in over one thousand days as their fine start continues, while Hoffenheim will be hoping justice is served.
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| 'The Phantom Goal' |
Dortmund had the most shots in Europe heading into this one, and with their first of the game, Marco Reus put them one-nil up from the penalty spot. After some nice play from Reus and Durm down the left-hand side, the latter was fouled by Sakai and the preceding converted from the spot. Dortmund continued their dominance through-out the first half, as Hannover found themselves camped almost exclusively in their own half.
The second half was much the same, as Dortmund failed to find a way past Zieler and a very resolute Hannover backline, who themselves found Roman Weidenfeller in confident form, dealing with anything that came his way. In truth it was a deserved win for die Schwarz-gelb who keep up the pressure on Bayern and Leverkusen, while Hannover's rotten run away from home continues.
Bayern 4-1 Mainz
Mainz went into this game after finally ending their barren run of defeats by drawing against Hoffenheim, and this seemed to give them a huge confidence boost. They were organised and very disciplined in the first half against Bayern, not giving them a yard of space as the leaders heading into the match day struggled to create a real chance. They then got the goal their commitment deserved, as Dante had gone off injured moments earlier, Boateng failed to clear a through ball and this let Shawn Parker run free, rounding Neuer to make it one-nil.
The lead for Mainz could, and would only last so long, as Goetze played in Robben almost immediately and the Dutchman side footed past Wetklo to restore parity, then straight away Bayern went ahead. Some 'tiki-taka' football around the box from Goetze and Robben found an unmarked Muller who had all the time in the world to pick his spot and score. Mainz went close twice in quick succession, but not long after Gotze then got his third assist of the day, cutting back to find Mandzukic who wrapped his foot round the ball to send it past a despairing Wetklo and end any chances of a Mainz comeback. Bayern began to dominate even more and they added a fourth through a Tomas Muller penalty, Robben angered that he wasn't allowed to take it, as he threw the ball to Muller in disgust. None the less an impressive showing from Goetze and Bayern in the end to send them back to the top of the Bundesliga.
Bremen 0-0 Freiburg
The Bundesliga's first nil-nil draw, and boy was this a stinker of a game, few to none on the chance register. The best of which fell to Werder early into the second half, when they struck the post and shot over from a corner, more worrying for the team in green was that their main talisman Nils Petersen would be out for six weeks. I did have a bad feeling before the game and unfortunately it materialised after over one hundred games, someone could always have cut the net at this game and give us a few goals!
Braunschweig 2-3 Schalke
The home side began the game brightest, especially Ademi upfront who was running Howedes ragged, and in the eighteenth minute, he did it again. A long ball fall the aforementioned Ademi and he flicked the ball brilliant round a bamboozled Howedes and he shot at Fahrmann, who made a mess of saving the attempt and it trundled in. The lead didn't last long however, as a Szalai header produced a decent save from Davari, but he parried back into the middle of the goal and young Max Meyer was on hand to tap in for his second in as many games.
The home side started the second half as well as they did the first, and were rewarded for their efforts as a magnificent counter saw Karim Bellarabi, who scored last time out against Wolfsburg, leave Santana on the ground and smash past a helpless Fahrmann. Yet again, this lead didn't last long either, as some shocking defending from a Schalke corner found an unmarked Leon Goretzka to tap home his first Bundesliga goal. A fantastic game, in which neither team deserved to lose, Braunschweig will feel hard done by but Schalke will be happy to escape unscaved.
Frankfurt 1-1 Nurnberg
A largely uneventuful first half that saw barely any attempts on goal was followed up by a much better second. Frankfurt went a goal up shortly after half-time thanks to a lovely flowing move, which resulted in Alex Meier slipping in Vaclev Kadlec to shoot past an on rushing Schafer and give the home side a deserved lead. The game looked dead and done from a Frankfurt point of view, but a late Drmic goal after some great work from the away side's midfield allowed him to round Trapp and slot home to seal an important point for the away side, though they still remain without a win thus far while Frankfurt will be disappointed they couldn't get all three points.
Hertha 1-0 Gladbach
The Saturday night game that saw brothers Raffael and Ronny go up against each other, and it was the latter that would have the family bragging rights until they meet again as an Adrian Ramos strike proved the difference between the teams. Not the greatest game in truth, as Hertha's defence held fantastically against a creative Gladbach side, who after their great two-nil win against Dortmund, seems like inconsistency may plague them again this season. Despite this, it shows that Hertha are no push-overs this year and could be dark-horses for Europe, Gladbach will be with out Martin Stranzl next time out as the Austrian picked up a second booking late on.
SUNDAY: Hamburg 3-3 Stuttgart
A cracking encounter at the Imtech Arena saw six goals, a sending off and a great game all round for everyone in the ground. Stuttgart went a goal up just after kick-off as Romanian prodigy and a player who I admire hugely opened the score with a fine finish. Hamburg began to come into the game and got their goal through Lasogga, who has been in fine fettle since returning from that injury. Though they couldn't hold out until the half, as Christian Gentner struck in the thrity-seventh minute to send Stuttgart in, slightly against the balance of play, two-one to the good.
Into the second half and just ten minutes in Max Beister foudn the net to level the game up, but that too was short lived as Johann Djourou put through his own net, only to be bailed out by a Rafael Van der Vaart just three minutes later. Hamburg continued to push and in the last ten minutes Stuttgart went down to ten after Rudiger threw a punch into Van der Vaart's stomach and he saw red, but Hamburg couldn't make their man advantage count as it finished all square.
Augsburg 1-2 Wolfsburg
The final game from Matchday 9 was entertaining for the first half at least, as Tobias Werner had the home side deservedly a goal up after ten minutes and they continued their dominance but were pegged back towards the end of the half as young Max Arnold struck to level matters. Then shortly after Luis Gustavo who had been the villain in recent weeks then put the Wolves a goal to the good just before half-time. That's the way it finished as Augsburg may feel slightly aggrieved they couldn't pick up a point from the game, while Wolfsburg will hope this can be the start of a good run for them.
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