Matchday two of the Bundesliga provided the usual mixture of goals, talking points and top individual performances. So, just who has made into the latest Bundesliga Fanatic Team of the Week?
1- Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen)
Pavlenka performed heroics in goal for Werder, only for the final shot of the match in the 96th minute beat him. A fantastic double save kept out Roland Sallai and Vincenzo Grifo in the first half kept Freiburg out, while Lucas Höler and Sallai again were denied with top saves in the second.
2- Joakim Maehle (VfL Wolfsburg)
Wolfsburg’s new right back had an excellent game at the Rhein-Energie Stadion. He got forward well as the visitors attacked mainly down his side and he combined well with Vaclav Cerny. Jonas Wind could have scored early on from one of his crosses, and the second goal saw Maehle provide the assist inside the penalty area for his compatriot to score.
3- Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
With a lot of the focus on Leverkusen’s summer signings, it was veteran Jonathan Tah who was one of the players taking the limelight against Mönchengladbach. The Foals scored four last week, but with Tah marshalling the back line there was little chance of a repeat. His header at the end of the first half made it 2-0 to cap a fine overall display.
4- Danilo Doekhi (Union Berlin)
Doekhi made a habit last season of getting on the end of corners and free kicks scoring six Bundesliga goals and was at it again on Saturday against Darmstadt. He got himself hurt scoring the fourth, but recovered.
5- Robin Gosens (Union Berlin)
It took a while for German international Robin Gosens to make his Bundesliga debut (nine years since his debut with Dordrecht), but when he did on Saturday he certainly made it count for Union Belin with two goals to help the Eisernen to a 4-1 win at the Böllenfalltor over Darmstadt. His first was a great left foot finish in the third minute, while the second was a powerful header to restore the lead after the hosts had equalised.
6- Kevin Stöger (VfL Bochum)
Bochum took the ‘mini’ Revierderby very seriously after their heavy defeat to Stuttgart on matchday one and they were really up for the challenge. The whole team were impressive, but the midfield performance of Kevin Stöger epitomised their efforts. His combative attitude was all that was missing from Dortmund and his stunning strike to open the scoring would have worthy of winning the game.
7- Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig)
Leipzig don’t usually make loan signings, but it is easy to see why they have made an exception in the case of Xabi Simons. He has bought into the side’s pressing game instantly and possesses real quality. His goal against Stuttgart to make it 5-1 came after he had provided the assists for both Dani Olmo and Kevin Kampl’s goals.
8- Jan-Niklas Beste (Heidenheim)
The least said about the first half penalty miss the better, but midfielder Jan-Niklas Beste made up for it with a stunning free kick equaliser and his pinpoint corner delivery picked out Marvin Pieringer for the second goal. His deliveries and set-pieces are going to be a real weapon for Heidenheim this season.
9- Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Wirtz was the instigator in the derby win at Gladbach orchestrating things behind the forwards. He created 10 chances in open play for Bayer Leverkusen throughout the match and seemed able to just glide past players with ease and some of his passing was just sublime.
10- Jonas Wind (VfL Wolfsburg)
After opening the season with a brace last weekend against Heidenheim, Wolfsburg striker Jonas Wind repeated the feat with a double against Köln to take all three points for the visitors at the Rhein-Energie Stadion. A fine piece of control inside the area and a precise finish on the hour mark saw Wolfsburg equalise Luca Waldschmidt’s opener and his second ten minutes later proved to be the winner. He needed to attempts after Marvin Schwäbe had blocked his first effort, but he got there in the end.
The Dane scored six goals in the whole of last season, but already has five having also scored in the Wölfe’s Pokal win.
11- Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen)
Having seen what striker Victor Boniface was capable of first-hand last season in their encounters with Union St. Gilloise, the decision to bring him to the Bay Arena is already paying dividends. Two goals at the Borussia Park saw him establish himself firmly in the hearts of the Werkself fans and it is already apparent that he’ll score a lot of goals this season if Bayer can carry on creating chances like they have in the first two games. A first half header gave him his first goal, while a clinical right-foot finish saw him claim his third goal of the season already in the second 45 minutes.
