The winners
Thomas Müller
With Robert Lewandowski not in the squad, it was down to Thomas Müller to carry on the work of the deadly duo against Köln. The Bayern forward opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the absence of the Pole to put Bayern on their way to another three points and recapturing the top spot in the league.
The win also provided a personal milestone for Müller as it brought up his 260th Bundesliga win taking him level with club legend Oliver Kahn. One more victory will see Müller become the Bavarians’ leading player with regards league wins. He will however have to win a few more to beat Kahn’s overall record of 310 Bundesliga wins (50 came when he was at Karlsruher SC).
Mats Hummels
No Erling Haaland, no problem for Borussia Dortmund.
Having scored the previous weekend against Ruhr rivals Schalke, Hummels chipped in with both goals in Dortmund’s hard-fought 2-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld. The promoted side put up a valiant resistance but the BVB centre back broke their resolve with a scruffy effort in the 53rd minute, which he knew very little about. He doubled his and Dortmund’s tally in the 71st minute with a header following a perfect cross from Marco Reus
Hummels has now scored in successive league matches for the first time since 2011, and it was the second brace of Hummels’ Bundesliga career, having previously scored a double against Köln in 2010.
Andre Hahn
Hahn was at the double with a brace of goals as FC Augsburg as they beat strugglers Mainz 3-1 at the WWK Arena. With the match tied at 1-1 with ten minutes left Hahn struck with a right-foot shot after Alfred Finnbogason laid a cross from Iago off to him inside the area.
He then put the icing on the cake with a second goal after a fine run and pass from Sarenren Bazee. The 30-year-old now has three goals this season after scoring on the opening weekend against Union Berlin.
“It was a successful day and a good win” the goalscorer said at the final whistle. “We played really well during the first half and were able to secure the win in the end thanks to our practice and experience. Ten points from six games is a really strong start for FCA, and we’re very happy with it.
“Of course, I’m very pleased with both of my goals, but I have to give credit to Alfred and Noah, who set me up perfectly. We want to continue to pick up as many points as possible.”
Hannes Wolf
Any goal scored is enjoyable, but there are some goals that are much more satisfying than others. In the case of Hannes Wolf’s goal at the weekend, it probably couldn’t have been sweeter.
The 21-year-old Austrian was handed his first start of the season by Marco Rose having joined Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer after an unhappy/ unsuccessful spell at RB Leipzig. Therefore, to score the winning goal to inflict a first defeat on die Roten Bullen was all the more satisfying for the former Red Bull Salzburg midfielder.
“Players always have that little extra motivation in matches like this” he said when interviewed after the win. “I had a tough time in Leipzig, and I wanted to prove myself, and now I have managed to break the seal and score my first goal for my new club – while playing against Leipzig. It was a strange situation for me, but I feel really comfortable here at Borussia.
“Before the game, Marco Rose had told me that I should just relax, play, and try not to do too much. I still went into the game with the right attitude, though, and I had a good game. When I scored, I was happy for my team, but I think that my celebrations were respectful enough towards Leipzig.”
Bayer Leverkusen/ Lucas Alario
Bayer Leverkusen maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 4-2 win away at Freiburg on Sunday and for the second game in succession striker Lucas Alario bagged two goals to take his tally to five in as many matches.
With Kevin Volland now at Monaco and summer signing Patrik Schick out injured, the Argentine striker has been given an extended run in the Werkself starting XI and has rewarded trainer Peter Bosz with goals. On current form, it will be difficult for Schick to force his way back in.
The losers
Mainz
The Nullfünfer remain the only club without a point after six matchdays following their 3-1 defeat at Augsburg. They went into the final ten minutes all-square only to concede two goals to ultimately leave empty handed.
“We’re disappointed overall, both with the result and with our performance. In the second half, we found a good answer to going one behind and we got ourselves back into the game” coach Jan-Moritz Lichte said.
“For their second, we actually outnumbered their attackers, but André Hahn still managed to find room for a clear shot at goal. After that, there was no way back for us.”
RB Leipzig
Having been trounced 5-0 in the Champions League in midweek by Manchester United, Leipzig suffered their first Bundesliga defeat of the season with their 1-0 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach. To add an extra kick in the teeth, the scorer of the only goal was Hannes Wolf- a player who struggled to find his way in Saxony last season following his move from Salzburg.
“Overall, we didn’t create enough pressure on the opposition over 90 minutes and lost possession too many times via too many long balls” Julian Nagelsmann explained. “But there are worse things than losing to Gladbach. They are a good team with a good coach and good style of play.”
There is however little time to dwell on the defeat with a midweek Champions League clash with Paris St. Germain on the horizon
David Alaba
Rested for Bayern’s clash with Köln, Alaba then discovered from reading online that his long drawn out contract negotiations had come to an end.
“A new situation has arisen over the weekend” Bayern president Herbert Hainer told Bayerische Rundfunk. “We made David and his agent a very, very good offer some time ago, we negotiated for months and we find the offer very fair and competitive – especially in today’s world.”
“We told David’s representatives at the last meeting that we wanted to have clarity by the end of October and an answer, because for such an important position and personnel we want to have planning security.
“We heard nothing until yesterday. Our sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, asked the agent again actively, and the answer was that the offer is still unsatisfying and that we should think about it again. As a result, we decided to take the offer completely off the table. That means there is no longer an offer.
Robert Skov/ Oliver Baumann
It may have been an innocuous shove in the back, but with the player in on goal, any contact is asking for trouble and Robert Skov not only conceded the penalty that allowed Union Berlin to open the scoring, but earned a red card in the process. Max Kruse dispatched the resulting spot kick to put die Eisernen into the lead.
Having equalised ten minutes from time through Munas Dabbur, keeper Oliver Baumann them produced a poor save to allow Joel Pohjanpalo to put Union back in the lead five minutes later. A poor shot from the Finn was nowhere near good enough to warrant a goal, but he gave the Union striker a second bite of the cherry and the three points were headed eastwards.
