Dortmund hammer Leverkusen
September 20, 2015Fans had to wait all the way to the late Sunday fixture for the marquee clash of matchday five, Dortmund versus Leverkusen, but a resurgent BVB ensured the game did not live up to its advance billing.
After just 19 minutes, Dortmund took the lead on the counter-attack. Shinji Kagawa threaded a perfect pass to Jonas Hofmann, and the youngster rounded Leverkusen keeper Bernd Leno, who had left his line, and slotted home.
After the break, it was Kagawa scoring himself. On the hour mark, Ilkay Gündogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan combined with some astute passing in close space, and the ball fell to the Japanese midfielder, who poked it over the line.
Leverkusen failed to muster any response at all, and a quarter of an hour from time, Wendell clumsily brought down Matthias Ginter in the box. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stepped up to the spot and did the honors.
Leverkusen were lucky that the scoreline stayed the way it was. The result means that Dortmund retake the lead in the standings thanks to their better goal difference than Bayern, while Leverkusen drop to thirteenth.
In the other late match Augsburg picked up their first win of the season, triumphing 2-0 at home over Hannover. Alexander Esswein and Paul Verhaegh scored the goals, both of which came in a two-minute spell in the first-half.
Hannover drop to third-bottom with only one point to show from the first five matches of this season. But other teams are faring even worse.
Schalke punish profligate Stuttgart
Looking to open their points account this season and break a four-game losing streak, Stuttgart came out with an attacking strategy at home. Schalke's strategy - if indeed, it was one - was comparable to Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope in the Rumble in the Jungle.
And like George Foreman, Stuttgart took repeated swings without being able to land a blow. In the end, the Southern Germans had 26 shots on goal to Schalke's ten, but failed to put a single one of them into the net.
Daniel Ginczek was one of the main culprits. The hot-and-cold striker was positively Arctic on Sunday, missing six chances, including a couple of absolute sitters.
Such profligacy rarely goes unpunished, and after 53 minutes Leroy Sane juked his way around Florian Klein to score the lone goal of the match. Stuttgart pressed in the dying minutes but had effectively punched themsleves out.
The 1-0 Schalke win lifts the Royal Blues up to fourth in the table, while Stuttgart will try again on Wednesday for their first points of the season. They sit second-to-bottom ahead of Mönchengladbach on goal difference.