Bundesliga Matchday 4: The spectacle of Imtech

Matchday four saw a number of big games played all over the Bundesiga. Eintracht Frankfurt travelled to Nürnberg on Friday to face FC Nürnberg. Saturday saw Bayern face off against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund take on Hamburg at the Imtech Arena.These three games will be the subject of our review.

Newly-promoted Frankfurt and Nürnberg have been the surprise packages of the season so far. While the Eagles (that’s Frankfurt) are keeping Bayern company at the top with three wins in as many games, Nürnberg have won two and drawn the game against Dortmund at home.

FC Nürnberg 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt

Yes, it just keeps on going. Frankfurt’s amazing run at the beginning of the season stretches to four games, a record for a newly promoted side, and brings back memories of Mainz’s record equalling start of seven wins at the start of the 2010-11 season. Both teams started with their regular lineups in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Nürnberg started the game well with Kiyotake, one of the many Japanese youngsters to have really impressed in the opening stages of the new season along with Takashi Inui (more on him later), sending some wonderful set-pieces into the box. A clash of heads between Frankfurt captain Primin Schwegler and Hanno Balitsch saw Schwegler having to leave the field after blood started pouring out from a cut over his eyebrow, with Martin Lanig replaced the Swiss midfielder. Eintracht seemed to be having a bad day as Oliver Occéan had to come off with a hamstring problem, with Erwin Hoffer replacing him.

The second of those substitutions came off very well as Hoffer scored with his first touch on the ball on 25 minutes. Takashi Inui’s corner was cleared but only as far as Anderson Bomba, who sent it to Hoffer, who in turn scored from inside the area into the far post. The chance saw Frankfurt taking control of the game. Nürnberg were reduced to taking shots from outside the area due to Frankfurt showing great defensive discipline in midfield. And 0-1 is how it stayed until the half.

The second-half saw a Timm Klose header cleared off the line by Sebastian Rode for Nürnberg. This was before Inui took the ball on the left flank and dribbed past three defenders before unleashing a lovely shot that curled right into the far corner, Schafer didn’t stand a chance. A 2-0 lead made it seem like the match was done and dusted and it didn’t help that Nürnberg were strugging to threaten Trapp’s goal.

But with 15 minutes to go, Alex Meier handeled the ball 35 yards from the goal and the resulting Kiyotake free kick was headed into the bottom corner by substitute Sebastian Polter. The goal changed the face of the game with Nürnberg mounting a late offence. Frankfurt looked nervy and Nürnberg almost got a goal after a scramble in the penalty area in the last minute. Three minutes were added on, which were mostly wasted by Carlos Zambrano’s playacting and the refree didn’t add any extra time after the fact. Dieter Hecking was furious at the sidelines and had to be escorted out.

Frankfurt once again gave a disciplined performance and capitalized well on the chances they had. But once again they needlessly complicated matters at the end by failing to shut the opposition out. As far as Der Club are concerned, they’d have to be pretty dissapointed with the result but momentary lapses in defending and a failure to convert chances led to their downfall. Kiyotake was once again excellent with a number of great set-pieces and even though the Frankfurt performance was more down to the team as a unit Takashi Inui’s goal seals the Man of the Match in his favor. Next up Frankfurt host Dortmund and Nürnberg travel to Hannover for mid-week clashes on the 25th & 26th respectively.

HSV Hamburg 3-2 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund fall 5 points from the top of the table and Hamburg gathered their first points in what will surely be one of the most thrilling 90 minutes of football to be played in the Bundesliga this season. Hueng Min-Son scored twice, once with a beautiful curling effort, for the hosts and Ivan Perisic scored a brace for Dortmund. Rafael Van der Vaart making only his second Bundesliga appearence, and the first at home, since his deadline day move from Tottenham got himself two assists adding to his already impressive record against ‘Die Schwarzgelben’ or ‘The Black Yellows’.

The spectators were barely in their seats when Van der Vaart, released on the left, provided a pin -point cross, which was headed in by Son from six-yards, the goal coming in the 2nd minute. The goal seemed to shock Dortmund into action with Piszczek providing most of the threat from the right-hand side. Rene Adler, fantastic on the night, was first called into action on 13 minutes with a great save as Michael Mancienne’s defensive header of a Reus free-kick had to be tipped over. Van der Vaart got a yellow card for a late challenge on Moritz Leitner in the 23rd minute.

In the 36th minute, an overhead kick by Arjtom Rudnevs just flashed wide of the post and two minutes later, on the other end, Adler was forced to make another great save as Lewandowski turned and shot to the left. Before the half was over, another chance for Hamburg saw Ilicevic backheel to Van der Vaart, only for Hummels to slide in and a header from Piszczek go inches wide. Both teams went into the break with the score at 1-0.

The crowd had already seen an excellent 45 minutes of football and were treated to something better for the next half. Only 24 seconds had passed since the refree restarted the game when Lewandowski picked out Perisic on the left, who made the most of the oppurtunity by chipping the ball over Adler and in at he far post. Dortmund dominated the early stages of the half and a penalty claim for Lewandowski was waived away by the referee in the 55th minute. But almost instantly Van der Vaart picked out Ilicevic on the left, who shot on his second touch and hammered the ball past Weidenfeller on his near post. Klopp was furious as he thought the goal was offside and he may have had a case. Hamburg didn’t rest on their laurels though and 4 minutes later Son got himself a second and Hamburg’s third by curling his shot into the far post from the edge of the area. The stadium announcer hadn’t finished reading Son’s name when Perisic got himself his second of the game to reduce the deficit to one.

Klopp made a couple of substitutions in the 63rd minute, with Kehl and Reus making way for Kuba and Julian Schieber. In the next seven minutes, Adler saved from Kuba, Perisic and Gotze. Dortmund were throwing wave after wave of attacks at the Hamburg defence with the northerners themselves getting a few of their own. But Hamburg held on for three points as the referee blew his whistle in the 4th minute of added time to give Hamburg their first points of the season, and how.

As far as the Man of the Match is concerned, few superlatives can justify the absolutely wonderful brace of Heun Min Son while Ilicevic was brilliant in his own right. But I give the nod to Rene Adler for a game saving performance between the posts. The last two seasons have not been easy for the once German No. 1 with his injury before the World Cup in South Africa losing the German jersey to Manuel Neuer and him being relegated to being a reserve in Leverkusen. But the transfer to Hamburg and the performance today more than anything shows the long road to recovery. For Dortmund, who weren’t poor by any measure today (maybe in defence), this game sees them fall 5 points behind the pace set by Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt where they play their next game on the 25th.

Schalke 04 0-2 Bayern Munich

The match of the weekend turned out to be a more straightforward affair than most would have expected, with 2 goals scored in quick succession by Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller sealing the game in the favor of the visiting Bavarians. Schalke, having come off an away win in the Champions League, just weren’t able to match the fluid passing display by Bayern.

Ribery was injured which meant that Muller started on the right with Robben moving to the left. Kroos played in the hole and the Javi Martinez was on the bench as Luiz Gustavo and Schweinsteiger started in the middle of the park. The defense saw the usual suspects return in Lahm, Boateng, Dante and Badstuber with Lahm and Badstuber playing on the right and left hand side of defense respectively.

For Schalke, Huntelaar played up front, supported by Holtby and Jermaine Jones behind him. 18 year old Julian Draxler started on the left and Jefferson Farfan was on the right. Roman Neustadter played as a pivot in a 4-1-4-1.

The game started with Bayern controlling possession and passing the ball around comfortably in the final third. Schake fans booed everytime the ball came near Neuer. The early stages of the match saw Schalke giving the ball away as soon as they would get it back by clearing it out. One can make the argument that with the high line Bayern were playing, this might have led to a counter-attack. But the backline gathered the ball with consumate ease. Whatever chances Schalke did create were through Farfan, as his pace down the right caused the defense a few problems.

The first chance came after 9 minutes when Schweinsteiger’s header towards Toni Kroos left him unmarked in the box with an oppurtunity to nudge the ball into the Schalke goal. But he failed to get a touch on it and Lars Unnerstall gathered the ball. Mandzukic, who is considered to be an excellent header of the ball, missed an absolute sitter when Robben’s cross from the left came on to his head at the far post with everybody beaten and he sent it over the bar. Huntelaar had a sight at goal 3 minutes later and shot into the side netting when he should have squared it to Jones, who was in a better position. Schalke started giving a better account of themselves by the half hour mark and both sides went into the break at 0-0 after an entertaining and goalless first-half.

Five minutes into the second half, the hosts had their first chance of the period. Huntelaar, bearing down on goal, was caught by the defense but Badstuber squared it to Holtby, whose shot was well wide. Muller had a header go just wide six yards from goal in the 54th minute. But a minute later, Kroos passed to Muller from the left who dribbled past Matip and slid the ball for Kroos to race ahead of a static Schalke defense and curl the ball into the far post. Three minutes later, the scoreline was doubled by a wonderful solo goal by Muller. Muller collected the ball on the right, nutmegged Christian Fuchs and holding off Julian Draxler, slid the ball into the bottom left corner and the game was all but over.

Robben had a chance to get one for himself as he went one on one with Unnerstall in the 66th minute, but the keeper reacted well to the Dutchman’s lobbed shot. The rest of the game passed by uneventfully as Bayern kept possession and with a two goal cushion in hand were content to see the rest of the game off. Martinez came on after 70 minutes for Gustavo and was unlucky to not get a goal for himself after a Robben free kick in the 70th minute. Two minutes of extra time were added and Bayern had their win from what can be said was their first big match of the season.

This performance is the team’s best performance this season other than the 6-1 hammering of Stuttgart and as with that display, Thomas Muller is unquestionably the Man of the Match.