1899 Hoffenheim - Bayer Leverkusen 2:3 (0:2)
Bottom team Mainz catches RB Leipzig by surprise
The serial winners from Bayer Leverkusen are simply unstoppable at the moment. The Bundesliga leaders won a wild game 3:2 (2:0) at TSG Hoffenheim on matchday 10. The Werkself set a new club record with their tenth competitive match win in a row. "Magic foot" Alejandro Grimaldo (45.+1/70.) and Florian Wirtz (9.) scored for Leverkusen, who have 14 wins and a draw at record champions Bayern Munich after 15 competitive matches. Hoffenheim remain in sixth place despite the defeat. The goals from Anton Stach (56') and Wout Weghorst (58') did not help TSG.
Leverkusen were missing striker Patrik Schick due to a new injury. The hosts were without Dennis Geiger, Marco John, Florian Grillitsch and Pavel Kaderabek. TSG star striker Andrej Kramaric was back on the bench after recovering from injury. In front of 30,150 spectators in the sold-out Sinsheim Arena, the visitors were dominant in the early stages. Leverkusen, who have to face Qarabag Agdam in Azerbaijan in the Europa League on Thursday, ran the ball and their opponents.
The lead was the logical consequence. Wirtz and the man in front, Victor Boniface, took the Hoffenheim defense apart in a co-production. TSG became a little more active after going behind. Marius Bülter tested Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky from distance (12'). However, Leverkusen remained the dominant team. The danger of conceding a second goal remained ever-present for Hoffenheim. Leverkusen's impressive attacking tempo was usually a touch too high for the TSG defense. Jonas Hofmann had the second goal for coach Xabi Alonso's team on his feet (25'). Eleven minutes later, Jeremie Frimpong ignited the turbo, but overlooked the free teammates in front of goal. Hofmann did better in stoppage time of the first half when he set up Grimaldo with a corner variation. Like Wirtz's goal, the direct shot was well worth seeing.
The picture changed at the start of the second half. Hoffenheim embarrassed the Leverkusen defense several times. The fact that Bayer right-back Kouakou Kossounou was replaced by Josip Stanisic at the break had a negative impact. High-flyer Maximilian Beier missed the chance to tie the scores (50'). Stach did better shortly afterwards from long range. After a misplaced pass from Hradecky, the midfielder lifted the ball over the Bayer keeper. Two minutes later, Leverkusen's lead was gone. After Bülter hit the post from distance, Weghorst dusted off the ball. Shortly afterwards, Weghorst almost put TSG ahead with a header (64'). Bayer completely lost order in this phase. Another stroke of genius from Grimaldo helped Leverkusen out of trouble.
1 FSV Mainz 05 - RB Leipzig 2:0 (0:0)
New coach, new luck: Following the resignation of Bo Svensson, FSV Mainz 05 landed a much-needed blow under interim coach Jan Siewert. The passionate side from the Rheinhessen fought their way to a 2-0 (0-0) win against RB Leipzig on matchday ten and celebrated their first victory of the season. While Mainz sent out an important sign of life with goals from Jae-Sung Lee (76') and Leandro Barreiro (82', after video evidence), Leipzig suffered their next setback as defending champions three days after their second-round exit from the DFB Cup. The Saxons are back in action on Tuesday in the Champions League at Red Star Belgrade.
Mainz have had a turbulent few days. On Thursday, FSV veteran Svensson resigned as coach after the weakest start to a season in the club's history (bottom of the table up to this matchday) and the cup exit, with former U23 coach Siewert taking over "until further notice". Added to this was the ongoing turmoil surrounding striker Anwar El Ghazi, who is now being investigated by the Koblenz public prosecutor's office on suspicion of incitement to hatred. On Friday, Mainz terminated El Ghazi's contract without notice.
"Bos wanted us to deliver a special game against Leipzig," said sporting director Christian Heidel: "That is the greatest gift we can give him." And Mainz's determination was clear to see. They tackled the duels with venom and did not allow Leipzig to develop despite their advantage in possession. As a result, the game initially only took place between the penalty areas, with RB striker Christoph Baumgartner (20th/25th) providing the first glimpse of danger. In the hosts' harmless attack, the injured Brajan Gruda, the only bright spot in recent weeks, was sorely missed. Leipzig also came up with little or nothing, with both goalkeepers enjoying a relaxed first half.
There was more firepower immediately after the break, as Mainz were now more daring. Lee (47) put the first shot on the Leipzig goal, albeit too harmless. Things got dicey for the first time when Xavi Simons (58) fired in from distance, but Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner made a strong save. Leipzig upped the tempo and Mainz took advantage of the confusion surrounding a supposed Leipzig corner kick to launch a quick counter-attack, with Dominik Kohr (66) narrowly missing the 1:0. RB then pressed for the win, but Mainz repeatedly launched dangerous counter-attacks - Lee completed one in exemplary fashion and Barreiro added a header shortly afterwards.
SC Freiburg - Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:3 (1:3)
Borussia Mönchengladbach continued their run of inconsistency after a late break in the egg despite their extreme efficiency. Coach Gerardo Seoane's team were unable to get past SC Freiburg 3:3 (3:1) despite taking a clear lead and are still waiting for two Bundesliga wins in a row after 20 months. With ten points, the Rhinelanders, who got off to a weak start, have nevertheless pulled themselves out of the bottom of the table. Vincenzo Grifo (90.+6, penalty) secured another point for Sport-Club. Jordan Siebatcheu (25'), Alassane Plea (29') and Julian Weigl (39', penalty after video review) scored to take a clear half-time lead despite Lucas Höler (7') conceding an early goal. However, thanks to Noah Weißhaupt (70) and Grifo, the Breisgau side avoided their third consecutive defeat, but are still in danger of slowly losing touch with the European Cup places.
Coach Christian Streich had called for a reaction after the cup defeat against Paderborn (1:3). "We need stability, mentality, tackling and more courage," said the 58-year-old. To this end, he rotated back to the team that had only narrowly lost 2-1 in Leverkusen in the last league match, making five changes - and this had an effect. His team got off to a flying start, overrunning Gladbach in the opening stages. Merlin Röhl failed to beat Moritz Nicolas after 63 seconds in front of 34,700 spectators, then Höler shot into the goalkeeper's arms from two meters (6th). Less than 60 seconds after his slapstick interlude, Höler slid a perfect Röhl cross into an empty goal. Borussia were then able to calm the game down somewhat and stabilize their defence.
After an initial warning shot from Plea (9'), a set-piece brought the equalizer: Jordan nodded in Luca Netz's header from a long free-kick and Noah Atubolu was unable to make a decisive save with his fingertips. Gladbach drew a lot of confidence from this and took control of the game. Plea completed a strong but also extremely weakly defended solo run with the outside of his head. Freiburg now looked completely unsettled, Philipp Lienhart caused a penalty by clumsily holding Jordan. Weigl first failed to beat Atubolu. But was allowed to do so again because the goalkeeper had cleared off his line too early and did better.
After the changeover, Gladbach switched to administration mode and lurked extremely deep on the counter-attack. Substitute Robin Hack forced Nicolas into a brilliant save (65'). Freiburg struggled offensively, exerted pressure - but rarely found any means against the tight defensive bulwark. Weißhaupt's powerful strike under the crossbar came out of nowhere and was the starting signal for the final offensive. Grifo then held his nerve from the spot.
1 FC Köln - FC Augsburg 1:1 (1:1)
A lot of fight and passion, but little result: 1. FC Köln missed out on their second home win in a row despite a good performance. Coach Steffen Baumgart's superior team only managed a 1:1 (1:1) draw against FC Augsburg and were not rewarded for their courageous performance. Instead, FC slipped to the bottom of the table. Linton Maina (16') had given Cologne a deserved lead, but Augsburg equalized through Phillip Tietz (25') and had excellent support in goalkeeper Finn Dahmen. It was the first points dropped for new FCA coach Jess Thorup; Augsburg had won the first two games under his direction.
After the disappointing performance in the cup in Kaiserslautern during the week, Baumgart had changed his starting eleven in several positions. Returning Mark Uth, who started in the Bundesliga for the first time since May 2022 after a long injury, received the biggest applause from the fans. Dominique Heintz also started at left-back to provide more stability. Steffen Tigges replaced the recently hapless Davie Selke as the only striker.
Despite the changes, FC played purposefully forward. It was Tigges who created the first great chance: He set up Luca Waldschmidt with a back-heel (7'), but he missed from a completely free position. Shortly afterwards, Maina did better when he took advantage of a rebound in the penalty area to score his first goal of the season. But Augsburg responded strongly to the setback, as they had done recently. First Ermedin Demirovic (19) hit the post, then Tietz converted an impressive assist from Robert Gumny to make it 1-1. It was Tietz's third goal of the season - all of which he has scored under coach Thorup.
Cologne, who had last kept a clean sheet on the 26th matchday of the previous season, were very lucky just before the break. Niklas Dorsch's powerful free-kick hit the crossbar, just centimetres away from Augsburg's second goal (41'). Immediately after the break, Uth failed to score in a direct duel with Augsburg goalkeeper Dahmen (48'). Uth then set up Waldschmidt, who was blocked (50'). FC now gained the upper hand, but missed even the clearest of chances. Waldschmidt shot into Dahmen's arms from 13 meters (53'), then Jeff Chabot headed just over (54'). Maina (58) and Uth (61) were also unable to beat Dahmen at this stage - at the other end, substitute Ruben Vargas hit the post (77).
Leverkusen will face Qarabag Agdam in the Europa League after their impressive win, while 1.FC Cologne is struggling at the bottom of the table after a 1:1 draw with FC Augsburg. In the meantime, RB Leipzig suffered a setback in their title defense as Mainz 05 secured a 2:0 victory. SC Freiburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach played out an entertaining 3:3 draw, with Vincenzo Grifo scoring a last-minute penalty for Freiburg. Lastly, Soccer Bundesliga teams like Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 1899 Hoffenheim, 1.FC Cologne, SC Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Augsburg, RB Leipzig, and 1.FSV Mainz 05 are all competing in the Soccer Bundesliga.
Source: www.ntv.de
