Bundesliga scores, Week 1: Goals galore

Three months after stealing the spotlight with an all Bundesliga Champions League final, the league took its place back in the center of the football world. They were the first major league to start their season, and made sure to put on a show with 37 goals in nine matches.

Leon Andreasen got Hannover’s off to the right start with a 17th minute goal before Szabolcs Huszti sealed their three points with a late goal to put things out of reach. But in reality, the match was over much earlier because Maximilian Arnold was sent off in the 32nd minute after a collision and Timm Klose saw red for his second yellow card in the 52nd minute. With nine men, Wolfsburg had no chance to mount a comeback and Hannover cruised to three points.

Remember last season when Frankfurt were the darlings of the early season, nipping at the heels of Bayern Munich at the top of the table for a few months? This season they started by getting stomped by a newly promoted team.

Hertha Berlin scored twice before halftime, then added two more by the hour-mark before tacking on two more late to humiliate Frankfurt. Welcome back to the Bundesliga, Hertha.

Hoffenheim thought they may have put last season behind them when they went up 2-0 at home, but once they got No. 2, they looked an awful lot like last year’s nearly related side. Three minute after the home side took a two-goal lead, Mike Frantz cut the lead in half and it took just three more before Daniel Ginczek equalized. In six minutes, Nurnberg had snatched an away point and Hoffenheim were having nightmares of last season. Poor Hoffenheim.

It looked like Eintracht Braunschweig’s return to the Bundesliga -- 28 years in the making -- was going to be a successful one as they hung around with Werder Bremen, but then the 82nd minute came around and it all went away. Junuzovic Zlatko found a late winner for the visitors to stun the the crowd at Eintracht-Stadion and ruin the home side’s party back in the first division.

The goalkeepers were busy at the Coface Arena, combining for 12 saves, and yet they still combined to allow five goals. Nicolai Muller put Mainz in front after 14 minutes, but Vedad Ibisevic equalized just two minutes later. That 1-1 scoreline held until after the hour mark as both goalkeepers put on a show, but Shinji Okazaki’s 65th minute goal began a frenzy. Muller doubled the Mainz lead 13 minutes later, but Martin Hamik made it a one-goal match eight minutes before time. Ibisevic had a chance to win a point for Stuttgart late on, but Heinz Muller was there to deny him and seal up a stressful, fun and well-earned three points for the home side.

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