Bundesliga, Week 6: Frankfurt stay unbeaten, Mainz win

With Matchday 5 being a midweek encounter, I decided to hold off on a review until the weekend’s matches were also completed. It’s been seven days, and each club has played two matches. Some things have changed, but some things haven’t. Before we get into our review, the first thing I want to do is to send well wishes on behalf of everyone at SB Nation to Hoffenheim’s Boris Vukcevic. The 22 year old midfielder was severely injured in a car accident last week and is in a medically induced coma in a Heidelberg hospital.

It was quite the return to the big time for Eintracht Frankfurt this week with a come from behind draw with Borussia Dortmund. While the draw may have ended their perfect run to start the season, they remained unbeaten through their first five matches. They extended that to six matches with a 2-1 victory against Freiburg on Sunday.

Eintracht Frankfurt continued their unbeaten run to start the Bundesliga season with a 2-1 win over Freiburg. The victory also sees them jump up to second in the table five points ahead of third place Borussia Dortmund.

As Freiburg sat back absorbing attack after attack from the hosts, they came through the first half without conceding. Frankfurt’s best opportunity came when Takashi Inui made a run the length of the field, but he sent his shot directly into the chest of Oliver Baumann.

Mainz traveled to the Volkswagen Arena and left with all three points as they beat Wolfsburg 2-0. The win jumps them all the way to 11th in the table, while Wolfsburg drops into the relegation zone.

Wolfsburg looked good early in the match and nearly went ahead after only six minutes, but Ivica Olic’s header went just over the crossbar. Vieirinha was instrumental in creating chances early for the hosts, and it seemed like it was just a matter of time before they took a lead.

Borussia Dortmund dominated Borussia Mönchengladbach Saturday evening on the way to a 5-0 victory. Marco Reus scored a brace with a goal on either side of halftime.

Gladbach came out attacking and nearly broke through just minutes into the match. A ball deflected off of Sebastian Kehl and found it’s way to a streaking Mike Hanke who was in alone on goal. Roman Weidenfeller was quick off his line and made a good save to keep the match scoreless.

Hoffenheim and Augsburg both picked up a point Saturday in a scoreless draw.

Playing with heavy hearts while teammate Boris Vukcevic lay in a coma after a car accident on Friday afternoon, Hoffenheim took the pitch on Saturday afternoon looking to complete a one week haul of 9 points in three Bundesliga matches.

Stuttgart patiently defended against Nürnberg before scoring on a defensive mistake and a counterattack on their way to a 2-0 win.

Nürnberg’s Marcos Antonio played a lazy pass back to Raphael Schäfer, but Vedad Ibišević jumped between the two and stole the ball. He deftly touched the ball around Schäfer and into the back of the net to give Stuttgart a 1-0 lead before one minute had passed.

Hamburg grabbed an early goal and held on to defeat Hannover 96 1-0 and conclude a fantastic week for the club.

Artjoms Rudnevs put Hamburg on top 1-0 after only twenty minutes. Ron-Robert Zieler’s goal kick was poor, and the ball was intercepted by Hamburg’s midfield. Rafael Van der Vaart played the ball into the path of Rudnevs, and the forward blasted the ball into the back of the net through the legs of Zieler.

Bayern Munich extended their perfect beginning of the season to six matches with a hard fought 2-0 win away to Werder Bremen.

Ribery almost put Bayern ahead again in the 64th minute. He dribbled across the top of the box, but his shot was just wide. Bremen’s defense was holding, and their confidence was building that they could leave with a draw or even pip a win.

Borussia Mönchengladbach travel to Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s late Bundesliga match. While neither side has started the season exactly as planned, Saturday’s contest is a big opportunity for both to put things on the right track.

The last two matches have been a mixed fortune for BVB. They have scored five goals in those matches, but they’ve only picked up one point and conceded six goals. They’ve been a mess defensively which brought out a post-match rant from Mats Hummels. He and fellow centerback Neven Subotic haven’t been able to find the form they had all of last season as they anchored the defense on the way to the double.

Bayern Munich have the opportunity to maintain their perfect record on Saturday when they travel to Werder Bremen, but the hosts will be looking to spring the upset.

Jupp Heynckes’ side has been in top form this season. They’ve been clicking offensively and defensively making light work of their opponents. They absolutely dominated Wolfsburg midweek en route to a 3-0 victory. The offense has scored the most goals (17) and conceded the fewest (2 - Tied with Fortuna Düsseldorf).

Fortuna Düsseldorf fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to come back and earn a huge point at home against Schalke.

The first chance of the match fell to Düsseldorf’s Dani Schahin after just five minutes. Tobias Levels sent in a low cross, and Schahin dove and headed it at the goal. Schalke breathed a sigh of relief as Lars Unnerstall watched the ball go just wide of the target.

With our first midweek league matches of the season behind us, the Bundesliga returns on Friday with an intriguing matchup, and the rest of the weekend has some other exciting matches to further your love for Europe’s most entertaining league.

Fortuna Düsseldorf vs Schalke - 20:30 CET / 2:30 PM EDT