Bundesliga roundup: Augsburg stun Leverkusen as Werner scores on second debut

Bayer Leverkusen - Augsburg 1-2

Bayer Leverkusen have lost their first three games of a season for the first time in their history, suffering a first ever head-to-head defeat to Augsburg at the BayArena. 

Gerardo Seoane’s men were looking to bounce back from defeat to European rivals Borussia Dortmund, but a positive start was undone by a quite wonderful Augsburg goal.

Turning the ball over on the halfway line, the visitors’ tremendous one-touch build up play completely unpicked the Leverkusen defence.

Ermedin Demirovic played a deft, cushioned ball through to Fredrik Jensen who finished with aplomb, scoring just his second goal in the Bundesliga.

Die Werkself continued to control the ball, but were desperately struggling to create chances against a solid Augsburg rearguard.

A moment of magic would be required to get the hosts on level terms, and Charles Aranguiz provided just that on the stroke of half time.

The Chilean picked up the loose ball on the edge of the area and unleashed a beautiful half-volley, arrowing into the bottom corner.

Leverkusen were the team in the ascendancy after the restart, although they should’ve already held the lead, but Sardar Azmoun missed two huge chances to score before the break.

Moussa Diaby, so often the danger man, forced a tremendous save from Rafal Gikiewicz, after his deflected shot was looping dangerously over the goalkeeper’s head. From the resulting corner, the Augsburg shot-stopper produced a fine reaction save to deny Azmoun.

The hosts’ second-half bombardment ultimately went without reward, and Augsburg countered to great effect, restoring their lead completely against the run of play.

Andre Hahn’s precise left-footed shot nestled in the corner, beyond the reach of Lunev, handing Augsburg their first-ever win over Leverkusen.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Rafal Gikiewicz (Augsburg)

Hertha Berlin - Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1

Eintracht Frankfurt are now winless in 10 Bundesliga games after drawing 1-1 with Hertha Berlin at the Olympiastadion, while the hosts have failed to win any of their last five league matches.

After just about navigating their way through a relegation play-off last term, Hertha’s mood will not have improved as they kicked off the new campaign with a DFB-Pokal first-round exit and a Berlin Derby defeat.

However, the hosts showed no signs of a team lacking in confidence in the opening stages against Frankfurt, with Suat Serdar beating Ansgar Knauff to powerfully head home Dodi Lukebakio’s far-post delivery inside three minutes.

While Hertha looked comfortable during the opening period, Frankfurt’s first-half performance was reflective of a side that lost 6-1 to Bayern Munich in their Bundesliga opener before succumbing to a 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, albeit despite an improved performance.

The hosts may have been in control before half time, but their composure seemingly dissipated at the break, with Frankfurt equalising within three minutes of the restart.

A series of errors in possession from Hertha allowed Randal Kolo Muani to drive towards the box before squaring to Daichi Kamada, who coolly slotted the ball past Oliver Christensen.

Buoyed by his assist, Frankfurt summer signing Kolo Muani went agonisingly close to giving his side the lead, firing the ball low past Christensen’s far post. 

Sensing Hertha were on the ropes, Oliver Glasner sent on Jesper Lindstrom and Rafael Santos Borre in search of a winner. Instead, it was one of the hosts’ substitutes who nearly made an immediate impact, but with only Kevin Trapp to beat, Stevan Jovetic’s effort trickled harmlessly wide. 

Frankfurt thought they had a late chance to win the contest, but referee Frank Willenborg overturned his original decision to award a penalty, ensuring the two sides had to settle for a draw.

Sandro Schwarz will be content with his first point as Hertha boss, while the visitors can take encouragement from a promising second-half display.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Hoffenheim - Bochum 3-2

TSG Hoffenheim denied VfL Bochum a third win in four visits to the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, recovering from an early 2-0 deficit to claim a first win in ten Bundesliga games, and avoid losing their opening two games of a Bundesliga season for the first time since 2015/16.

That particular campaign saw the Kraichgauers finish just one place outside the relegation playoff berth, adding extra urgency to their cause.

However, Hoffenheim’s hopes of success looked doomed early on, following three minutes of madness during a dismal opening quarter-hour, with Philipp Hofmann firstly heading down a tenth-minute cross into the box, teeing up Zoller to fire home and give Bochum a shock lead.

Hoffenheim barely had time to take stock of their deficit, before Kevin Stoger sent a hanging cross into the area, which Zoller gleefully took in his stride to fire high into the net.

With Hoffenheim surely sensing the seething frustration around the ground, their fightback began straight from the kick-off, with a rebounded effort on goal falling into Christoph Baumgartner’s path for a close-range finish.

A titanic opening 23 minutes then climaxed with Hoffenheim’s leveller from a corner, which had been awarded after Robert Skov was thwarted by Manuel Riemann, with Ozan Kabak leaping to head home a perfect delivery from Dennis Geiger inside the post for 2-2.

Chances would then dissipate in the first half’s latter minutes, though there was time for Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to block a Zoller header, with the hat-trick candidate’s header angling towards the corner.

After a quiet start to the second period, the hour mark brought another key flashpoint, as Bochum captain Anthony Losilla was deemed to have illegally held Baumgartner inside the area. Andrej Kramaric looked confident in the run up, but Riemann guessed correctly and denied the Croatian with an eye-catching save.

It was a crushing twist for Hoffenheim, but they showed sufficient character to spend much of the end game firmly in the ascendancy, with late chances for Georginio Rutter and Skov both drawing saves from Riemann.

Bochum attempted to regain some semblance of attacking potential, with Takuma Asano – the man who netted a double to give Bochum victory here in April’s corresponding fixture - deployed late on to try and snatch another shock victory.

However, it was Hoffenheim’s Munas Dabbur who proved to be the hero, leaping to connect with a cross on 88 minutes and complete the fightback, ending an agonising winless run in the Bundesliga at 10 games.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Christoph Baumgartner (TSG Hoffenheim)

RB Leipzig - Cologne 2-2

In a chaotic affair at the Red Bull Arena, RB Leipzig and FC Cologne drew 2-2, seeing Die Geissbocke snap a historic streak of four straight losses in opening Bundesliga away trips. 

It was a lively start from both sides, with neither team looking keen for anything but a win. RB Leipzig appeared to take the lead thanks to an early curling effort from Dani Olmo, but the goal was chalked off due to a handball in the build up, sparing early Cologne blushes.

Only five minutes later, Christopher Nkunku rounded the visiting keeper and looked to give the hosts the lead they were after, but yet again the goal was disallowed, this time for offside.

The visitor’s luck ran out with ten minutes remaining in the first half, when keeper Marvin Schwabe fumbled a Timo Werner strike from distance, gifting the striker a goal on his return to Leipzig.

Much to the delight of Die Geissbocke, Florian Kainz picked out an inch perfect cross to allow Florian Dietz to tap home and level the scoreline only moments later.

Dramatically, it quickly got worse for the home side when Dominik Szoboszlai was shown a straight red-card for a high elbow on the stroke of half time, leaving Die Roten Bullen with only ten men for the final 45 minutes.

The numerical disadvantage did not hurt the home side in the opening proceedings of the second half however. Ten minutes in, Nkunku’s run split the Cologne defense, and after being picked out by Olmo, arrowed the ball into the top corner to give Leipzig an unlikely lead.

The back-and-forth affair did not stop there and the visitors pulled themselves level thanks to a Joško Gvardiol own-goal in the closing stages.

The frustrating start to the season continues for RB Leipzig. After losing their lead twice on the day, the Saxony club have failed to win any of their first three competitive games of a campaign for the first time in club history.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)

Werder Bremen - Stuttgart 2-2

The Weserstadion was the site of an exciting 2-2 draw between hosts Werder Bremen and visitors VfB Stuttgart, who remain undefeated in six head-to-head encounters.

Werder Bremen opened their 58th Bundesliga campaign with a rollercoaster ride, as they conceded the first goal of the season within 11 minutes against Wolfsburg, yet it was them doing the scoring this time around against Stuttgart.

Niclas Fullkrug’s towering header from Anthony Jung’s superb cross means that the German striker has now scored in six consecutive league outings for Die Werderaner.

Fullkrug almost doubled his tally with a thunderous effort from the edge of the box that struck the crossbar minutes later.

It took the visitors more than 25 minutes to find their footing as they found themselves lacking in ideas despite being fueled by midfielders Silas and Chris Fuhrich in the final third.

However, Stuttgart didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser, as captain Wataru Endo made up for his earlier long-range miss with a scorcher into the top-left corner minutes before half time, giving Jiri Pavlenka no chance.

Ole Werner’s outfit restarted proceedings in the second half with the same grit they began the first, but it was Die Roten forward Tiago Tomas who forced the home crowd into a sigh of relief when his attempt was superbly kept out.

The lack of clinical finishing proved to be the visitors’ undoing, as they failed to penetrate the hosts’ backline time and again.

On the other end, Marvin Ducksch, who had struck the side netting earlier, sent his edge-of-the-box shot flying above the crossbar as the game entered the final quarter-hour.

Bremen were punished for their shortcomings just minutes later, thanks to a brilliant effort by Silas, who tucked in his shot artistically to send the visiting fans into raptures.

However, substitute Oliver Burke broke Stuttgart hearts right at the death with an opportune finish from point-blank range to draw 2-2. Performing on home turf is a habit Bremen will need to reclaim in order to avoid another dreaded relegation.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Silas (VfB Stuttgart)