Bundesliga Match Day 12: Weekend Wrap-Up
If there has been one, fun-to-watch development from the start of the season, it has been the emergence of Eintracht Frankfurt out of the shadows of Niko Kovac. When Adi Hutter took the reigns of the squad, there was a lot of doubt - and even more adjustment - but it appears that the early season stumbling phase of the relationship is over.
Die Adler looks dangerous...like, extremely dangerous.
In dispatching a very game FC Augsburg side this weekend, Eintracht Frankfurt further established itself as one of the Bundesliga's teams to beat this season. Behind goals from Jonathan de Guzman (1'), Sebastien Haller (47'), and Ante Rebic (68'), Die Adler cruised to a 3-1 victory over Die Fuggerstädter.
Augsburg's only goal came in the 90th minute when 21-year old Venezuelan Sergio Cordova put his squad on the scoreboard. As feared, Augsburg entered this battle without its primary weapon, Alfred Finnbogason. Even with the Icelander, however, Die Fuggerstädter was going to have a tough time against the extremely confident squad from Frankfurt.
This was a quality win for Eintracht Frankfurt, which will no doubt be zeroing in on a December 22nd date with Bayern Munich. My how things have changed since the Super Cup back in August when Bayern put a 5-0 beating on Die Adler.
Something tells me Hutter and his boys have not forgotten about that result...
Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 3, FC Augsburg 2 (W)
Bayern Munch 3, Fortuna Düsseldorf 3: Bayern’s stunning run of poor play continued as it succumbed to a draw with lowly Fortuna Düsseldorf. Thomas Muller had a brace and Niklas Sule added another tally, but F95’s Dodi Lukebakio had a hat trick, including the game-tying goal in extra time to shock Die Roten.
One of the lone bright spots for Bayern was the play of Muller, who absolutely delivered a big performance when his squad needed it. Unfortunately for Bayern, the game-tying goal occurred almost immediately after Muller left the game. While the thought process might have been sound, the execution ultimately failed (like many of Kovac's tactics unfortunately). Credit to Düsseldorf, though, it never gave up and kept attacking Bayern; in the end that was a strategy that worked.
Prediction: Bayern Munch 4, Fortuna Düsseldorf 0 (L)
Bayer Leverkusen 2, VfB Stuttgart 0: Kevin Volland’s brace provides Die Werkself with enough cushion to hold off VfB Stuttgart and can hopefully push Leverkusen back into the mix of teams competing for the league crown. Stuttgart, however, is nearing rock bottom and possibly hitting a point where it will not be able to recover (much like what happened to FC Koln last season).
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 3, VfB Stuttgart 1 (W)
Hoffenheim 3, Hertha Berlin 3: Die Alte Dame's Mathew Leckie (72') and Valentino Lazaro (87') powered Hertha Berlin to a 3-3 draw with goals after Hoffenheim took a commanding 3-1 lead early in the second half.
Kerem Demirbay (1') and Andrej Kramaric (10') had Hoffenheim flying out of the gates with early goals, but Hertha Berlin's Vedad Ibisevic cut the lead to 2-1 late in the first half. After the break, Ermin Bicakcic gave Hoffenheim what looked like a convincing 3-1 lead before Julian Nagelsmann's squad ultimately had a Bayern-esque meltdown.
It was a striking comeback from Hertha Berlin, which may not find its footing after several consecutive shay weeks.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 2, Hertha Berlin 1 (L)
Borussia Dortmund 2, Mainz 1: Mainz has proven to be a tough draw for most teams and continued that trend in pushing Dortmund to its limit. Paco Alcacer subbed in for Mario Gotze and immediately made his presence felt as he has done so many times this season. Marco Reus found the Spaniard with a perfect cross for the game’s opening goal in the 66th minute. Mainz forward Robin Quaison knotted the game in the 70th minute to amp up the Opel Arena crowd, but it was Łukasz Piszczek’s 76th minute tally that was ultimately the game-winner and kept BVB rolling.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 4, Mainz 1 (W)
Wolfsburg 1, RB Leipzig 0: Wolfsburg regained some its bite in holding off a previously scorching hot Die Roten Bullen squad. Jérôme Roussillon’s 50th minute goal was the difference maker in the contest, which was surely a letdown for Leipzig, which had been able to avoid a letdown all season until this weekend.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 3, Wolfsburg 1 (L)
Schalke 5, FC Nürnberg 2: Schalke finally broke out offensively and did so in a big way. Already leading 2-1 behind goals from Steven Skrzybski and Amine Harit, Der Club’s Robert Bauer was given his second yellow card of the game in the 67th minute. From that point, Die Königsblauen completely took over. Guido Burgstaller, Skrzybski, and Bastian Oczipka each tallied additional goals for Schalke’s biggest offensive output so far this season. For FC Nurnberg, Federico Palacios and Adam Zreľák provided the goals.
Prediction: Schalke 2, FC Nürnberg 0 (W)
SC Freiburg 1, Werder Bremen 1: Christian Streich is making his mark as a strategist this season maybe more than ever as his Breisgau-Brasilianer earned a hard-fought draw against Werder Bremen. Gian-Luca Waldschmidt scored on a 42nd minute penalty for Freiburg, while Die Werderaner's Ludwig Augustinsson allowed his team to escape with a tie when he scored in the second minute of extra time. This was a very good result for Freiburg, even with the late goal from Werder Bremen, as Breisgau-Brasilianer will be looking to climb its way back up the table one point at a time.
Prediction: Werder Bremen 2, SC Freiburg 1 (L)
Borussia Monchengladbach 4, Hannover 96 1: Hannover's Bobby Wood provided a quick knockdown on M'Gladbach by scorching the Foals for a goal in the game's first minute, but that would be about all Hannover could muster.
Die Fohlen put forth another masterful effort in counter-punching Hannover and then pummeling them into submission. Thorgan Hazard (7'), Michael Lang (44'), Lars Stindl (58'), and Denis Zakaria (75' ) all found the back of the net to keep M'Gladbach firmly entrenched in second place.
The news was not all positive, however, for M'Gladbach as Matthias Ginter suffered a fractured eye socket and jawbone and will be looking at a stint on the injured list.
Prediction: Borussia Monchengladbach 3, Hannover 96 1 (W)
Weekly record: 5-4
Season record: 47-61
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
