Bundesliga – Round Two
September 9, 2016
Schalke 04 0-2 Bayern Munich
Robert Lewandowski 81’
Joshua Kimmich 90’+2
It is definitely the start Bayern wanted, we can’t say the same for Schalke. Two wins in two for Bayern Munich title defense season, and it was also two losses out of two for Schalke 04.
Robert Lewandowski scored and assisted in Bayern Munich second win of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season.
Bayern had an easy start to the season against Werder Bremen. Their 6-0 victory felt like a training match instead of a season debut. Playing Schalke was supposed to be a tougher test that was going to show us how Bayern might fare under new management and in a new season.
Schalke did put on a show, and had they been more clinical, they could have snatched a surprising win against the defending champions.
As usual, Bayern was picked as favorite to win this match, but it took over eighty minutes for Bayern to separate themselves from Schalke. Last season’s top scorer, Robert Lewandowski added another goal to his tally for the season when he found the game-winner in the 81st minute. A sublime through pass from Javi Martinez cut the back line of Schalke’s defense to give Lewandowski a one-on-one chance facing Schalke’s goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann.
A late push from Schalke in extra time to get an equalizer opened them up for a counter attack that resulted in Bayern’s insurance goal. Joshua Kimmich was able to finish a teasing pass from Lewandowski to kill all hopes of a comeback for Schalke 04.
Two losses in two matches were not the start we expected for Schalke 04, but after failing to beat Eintracht Frankfurt in their season opener, losing their first two matches was highly probable.
September 10, 2016
Freiburg 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Maximilian Philipp 54’ 85’ Thorgan Hazard 35’
Nil Peterson 88’(pen)
Maximilian Philipp scored the equalizer and the match winner for Freiburg to secure a home win over Borussia Monchengladbach. Thorgan Hazard had given the visitors a goal lead in the first half, but three goals from the home side in the second half gave Borussia Monchengladbach their first loss of their season. After a losing start to Freiburg’s season, this was a much needed win to start their campaign.
Darmstadt 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Sandro Sirigu 90’
A late goal the run of play gave Darmstadt a win over Eintracht Frankfurt. It was Frankfurt’s first defeat of the season.
Ingolstadt 0-2 Hertha Berlin
Vedad Ibisevic 8’
Julian Schieber 86’
It is two wins in two matches for Hertha Berlin. An early goal in the first half and a late goal in the second half was how Berlin took all three point away from Ingolstadt.
Wolfsburg 0-0 FC Koln
After a winning start to their season, Wolfsburg and FC Koln had to settle for a draw in their second match of the season.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Hamburger SV
Joel Pohjanpalo 79’ 90’+1, 90’+4 Bobby Show Wood 58’
Second half action saw Joel Pohjanpalo score a hattrick to give Bayer Leverkusen a comeback win over Hamburger SV.
Pohjanpalo scored two goals in injury time after he had scored in the 79th minute to equalize for Leverkusen.
RB Leipzig 1-0 Borussia Dortmund
Naby Keita 89’
It was against the run of play, but newly promoted RB Leipzig took all three points when Borussia Dortmund came to visit.
As one of the few teams that are expected to give Bayern Munich a run for the title, falling behind this early in the season might be very costly.
September 11, 2016
Werder Bremen 1-2 Augsburg
Aron Johannsson 45’+2 Jeffrey Gouweleeuw 52’
Konstantinos Stafylidis 73’
Augsburg came from a goal down to win away at Werder Bremen. It is a losing start for Werder Bremen.
Aron Johannsson gave the home side the lead at the end of the first half, but second half goals Gouweleeuw and Stafylidis shot Augsburg up to get their first win of the season.
Mainz 05 4-4 Hoffenheim
Pablo De Blasis 3’ 23’ Sandro Wagner 40’
Jhon Cordoba 27’ Mark Uth 71’ 73’
Levin Mete Oztunali 43’ Adam Szalai 84’
This is a match that you might just have to rewatch. Two teams that are yet to win a match faced off and gave Bundesliga fans the most entertaining match of the weekend.
There was an amazing 8-goal thriller when Mainz 05 and Hoffenheim met for their second match of the season. Five goals had been scored by the end of the first half. Mainz was 4-1 up going into the break. Who knew then that Mainz was done with scoring in this fixture?
After the restart, the home team was made a man less when Gaetan Bussmann received a red card in the 58th minute. Mainz had to play with 10 men for the remainder of the match, and Hoffenheim took advantage of that.
Mark Uth scored two goals in the space of two minutes to bring the Hoffenheim a goal away from an equalizer. It was a 4-3 scoreline with at least 18 minutes left of the match to be played.
Second half substitute Adam Szalai found the equalizer for Hoffenheim in the 84th minute. They had the final minutes of the match to search for a game winner and write into history one of the most amazing comebacks in football.
Unfortunately for Hoffenheim, Mainz 05 were able to close the shop and run the match down to finish a 4-4 draw.
