German Bundesliga, Matchday 2: Borussia Dortmund Shocked In Lively Saturday Action

After a scintillating week one performance and relative malaise for the other teams who might be able to challenge for the title, it looked like Borussia Dortmund would cruise to a second consecutive Bundesliga crown. They still very well might, but they had their first hiccup of the season at Hoffenheim on Saturday. Meanwhile. Bayern Munich grabbed full points to give Dortmund a push as the thought of a close Bundesliga race begins to take shape.

A team that has flown below the radar but is continuing to make a case to be considered among the challengers for the crown is Schalke, who was very impressive on Saturday as they destroyed Cologne. All of a sudden it looks like the title race is wide open and why not Schalke? Unlike the other challengers they don’t have to fight in the Champions League, leaving them stronger to make a run at the league crowd and with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in the kind of form that he is in now it will be difficult for anyone to keep Schalke from getting goals.

TSG Hoffenheim 1-0 Borussia Dortmund

Sejad Salihovic did the damage for Hoffeinheim with a gorgeous 30-yard shot just nine minutes in. The host were better for most of the match and had chance after chance that they couldn’t turn into goals, but it didn’t matter. They got lucky a few times, never more so than when Ivan Persic’s header hit the post, but Hoffenheim were not about to complain about how they kept Dortmund off of the scoreboard. What mattered is that they did keep the clean sheet to make Salihovic’s goal hold up in a 1-0 win.

VfL Wolfsburg 0-1 Bayern Munich

In no way, shape or form should Bayern Munich has gotten three points in Wolfsburg. They were thoroughly outplayed and looked like they would head into the third week of the season without a win. Wolfsburg pressured all match and it wasn’t just a matter of Bayern spending all of the time defending their own half. They were inside their own penalty box for most of the match, but luck was on their side as the ball stayed out. That left them to the last kick of the match when Gustavo was able to jump on a ball laid back for him and strike from the edge of the penalty box. Diego Benaglio was able to get a hand to it, but not enough of the shot as it bounced over the line for an undeserved Bayern winner.

Schalke 04 5-1 FC Cologne

It was the Huntelaar show at Veltins Arena as the Dutchman knocked in goal after goal. By the end of the contest he had himself a hat trick and Schalke had themselves a dominating win. The real damage came just before and after halftime when Schalke scored four goals in 17 minutes to fire past a Cologne side that looked helpless. Lewis Holtby and Raul were the other goal scorers for Schalke as they cruised for another three points.

Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Stuttgart

Both sides played well in the opening 45 minutes, but neither had anything to show for it. Chances went begging and some brilliant last minute defending kept the match scoreless at the break, but that wouldn’t last for a second 45 minutes. New Stuttgart signing William Kvist pushed Marco Reus, who was a threat all match. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and Filip Daems converted the spot kick to put ‘Gladbach ahead, 1-0. Kvist has an answer for Stuttgart though, making up for giving away the penalty when his perfect cross found Cacau for the equalizer. An 80th minute red card to Roel Brouwers meant that Gladbach had to hang on tight in the final 10 minutes, but they did to earn a point.

Nurnberg 1-2 Hannover 96

Hannover surprised many by surging to fourth place a year ago and earned a European spot and they look intent on finishing near the top of the table again this season. The got on top just 16 minutes in when a good sequence of quick passing opened up space on the right to get a cross in. Mohammed Abdellaoue got on the end of the cross and while it wasn’t the best of finishes, Raphael Schafer bundled it across. A penalty not long after doubled Hannover’s lead and while Nurnberg tried to come back with a Tomas Pekhart goal in the second half it wasn’t enough for the home side as Hannover made it six points from two matches.

Hamburg SV 2-2 Hertha Berlin

It took 178 minutes, but Hertha Berlin finally got the breakthrough they needed to get their first point since returning to the Bundesliga. The newly-promoted side couldn’t get anything out of their opening match, but two minutes from the final whistle Andre Mijatovic equalized to get Hertha a draw. Miaden Petric opened the scoring by converting a penalty kick, but Tunay Torun got one back just before halftime to send things to the break level. Hamburg went back in front after an hour, but Mijatovic got on the end of a corner kick just before time to get Hertha a point they certainly deserved.

SC Freiburg 1-2 Mainz

Freigburg may have been the home side, but it was Mainz who were the aggressors right from the start and eventually, deserved winners. Marcel Risse put them on top after 64 minutes and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting doubled that lead after 79 minutes. Papiss Demba Cisse got a goal back for Freiburg, but it was just before the final whistle and much too late at that point.