Ilkay Gundogan scores against Hoffenheim as Dortmund losing drought ends

Bundesliga

Dortmund - Ilkay Gündogan was the matchwinner as Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways after a 1-0 win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Matchday 14's opener.The midfielder grabbed his first Bundesliga goal in 20 months to end Dortmund's near month-long wait for a win in the Bundesliga and, at least temporarily, take them off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three ahead of the remainder of the weekend's fixtures. 

Gündogan goal 

BVB had a spring in their step right from the start with a Marcel Schmelzer effort after 40 seconds drawing encouraging applause from Klopp. The coach had made the bold decision to leave out Roman Weidenfeller as part of five changes to the side beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt a week ago, with Mats Hummels returning from injury at the heart of the defence, but the decision was proven correct, with his side's organisation and discipline visible from the outset. Hoffenheim were being as vigilant as possible to keep a buoyant BVB at bay, but just one lapse in concentration was all it took for their defence to be breached. Just before the 20-minute mark, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lifted a teasing cross to the far post where Gündogan ghosted in to head home his first Bundesliga goal since April 2013. 

Imperious Hummels 

Playing for the first time in 73 games with the very same back line used in the UEFA Champions League final defeat to FC Bayern München, Dortmund showed the same resolve which got them to that season's Wembley final, restricting Hoffenheim to just one speculative Sven Schipplock effort in the whole of the first half. Credit for that could be correlated with the return of Hummels, who made a decisive block at the start of the second half to scamper back and deflect a Sebastian Rudy free-kick wide with Mitch Langerak beaten. It was a warning to Dortmund that one goal may not be enough, and they thought they had added a second when Aubameyang headed in, but the offside flag was raised to deny him. 

One-way traffic

Hummels so very nearly announced himself at the other end too as Dortmund looked to turn the screw, but Oliver Baumann parried his header from a corner over the bar. Aubameyang then suffered similar treatment from the Hoffenheim custodian, who was keeping his team in the contest, turning another effort from the Gabon forward onto the outside of the post after the had seen his second goal of the night ruled out for offside. Henrikh Mkhitaryan also missed the target as the home fans' nerves were put to the test by side's their failure to finish Hoffenheim off. They got away with it, though, despite Hoffenheim's appeals for a penalty when Neven Subotic clashed with Tarik Elyounoussi inside the box. There was nothing to block Dortmund's path to a much-needed win, however, and the relief inside the Signal Iduna Park at full time was palpable.

SC Paderborn wins again, scores a come from behind win over Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1

PADERBORN COMEBACK TO SNATCH VICTORY OVER FRANKFURT

Paderborn - SC Paderborn 07 came from a goal behind to pick up their third win of the season, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 at the Benteler Arena in Matchday 8’s final encounter.

Following a quiet first half, Alexander Meier struck first for the Eagles, who failed to seize on the chance to move into the top three as late goals from Marvin Ducksch, captain Uwe Hünemeier and Stefan Kutschke saw plucky Paderborn snatch all three points.

Slow out of the blocks

Keen to assert themselves in the opening exchanges of the encounter, Paderborn were quick to establish their punishing pressing game against a Frankfurt line-up who seemed flat-footed in the face of their hosts’ approach. Chances were few and far between though, with only an unfortunate bobble preventing Elias Kachunga tapping home from Süleyman Koc’s drilled cross. 

It was the only chance of note in a turgid first half hour of proceedings. Eintracht were offering little or no threat in the final third - Takashi Inui’s wayward shot from range their only effort on goal before the break - while Paderborn couldn’t produce the all-important delivery to unlock the visitors’ rigid backline. 

Alexander the great

Patrick Ziegler’s curling effort from the edge of the area on the cusp of half-time came closest to flipping the script, but with the sides locked in a stalemate following a less than enterprising first 45 minutes, both will have been grateful for a chance to regroup.

Though neither outfit entered the fray with renewed vigour after the restart, Frankfurt’s tactical tweaks soon began exposing Paderborn’s vulnerability on the counter. The improvement in performance duly delivered the opening goal as Inui’s drilled cross picked out Meier, whose side-footed effort cannoned in off the post shortly before the stroke of the hour. 

Paderborn punish Eagles

It was the moment that sparked the game into life as Andre Breitenreiter’s charges threw caution to the wind on the back of the Paderborn head coach making two attacking changes, which produced immediate results. Stefan Kutschke and Ducksch combined to great effect moments after coming off the bench, as the latter smashed a superb volley across goal and inside the far post.

Though Inui and Haris Seferovic both came within a whisker of restoring Frankfurt’s lead, the momentum had well and truly shifted in favour of the hosts, who were unrelenting in cranking up the pressure. As a result, Hünemeier swept home Mario Vrancic’s clever delivery with just over ten minutes left to play, before Kutschke rounded Felix Wiedwald to complete the comeback, moving Paderborn above their opponents in the Bundesliga standings. 

Stuttgart clawed back to draw with Bayer Leverkusen 3-3

STUTTGART FIGHTBACK LEAVES LEVERKUSEN STUNNED

Stuttgart - A stunning comeback rescued VfB Stuttgart a dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

The Swabians fought back from three goals down thanks to strikes from Timo Werner, Florian Klein and Martin Harnik after Heung-Min Son’s double and Karim Bellarabi had given Leverkusen a seemingly comfortable three-goal half-time lead.

Son brace

Boosted by their streak of four competitive games without a defeat, Leverkusen settled into their rhythm quickly, dictating both pace and possession in the early stages against a deep-lying Stuttgart side. Their dominance paid off after four minutes when Son collected from Stefan Kießling to slot in from close range.

The South Korean was at the heart of all Leverkusen's attacking efforts, imposing a constant threat on the Stuttgart defence. He made it two only five minutes later, picking up Thorsten Kirschbaum’s loose clearance and hammering the ball into the back of the net from a good 30 yards.

Werner pulls one back

Antonio Rüdiger gave the guests their first serious warning at the other end with a promising header near the half-hour mark, but things soon went from bad to worse when, after Kießling’s effort from a tight angle bounced off the post, Bellarabi crowned a fantastic solo effort to hand Bayer a comfortable three-goal lead.

Stuttgart were never going to give in on their own patch, however, with Armin Veh’s men emerging for the second half completely rejuvenated. Martin Harnik came close to pulling one back for the Swabians, swerving marginally wide, before Werner went one better, nodding Klein’s cross into the far left corner.

Harnik to the rescue

The hosts managed to keep up the pressure against a detereorating Leverkusen side, bossing possession and carrying the far greater threat as the game progressed. The 2007 Bundesliga champions soon saw their efforts pay further dividends when Klein hammered the ball home from long range, leaving Bernd Leno in the Leverkusen goal with no chance whatsoever.

Sensing their chance to snatch an unlikely draw, Stuttgart threw men forward in the final stages, and it was the tireless Harnik who sent the home side level with 13 minutes on the clock, nodding in substitute Filip Kostic’s pinpoint free-kick to make it 3-3. Roberto Hilbert passed up one final chance to give Leverkusen a dramatic late win as a thrilling contest ended all square.

Borussia Monchengladbach, FSV Mainz share points 1-1

GLADBACH AND MAINZ SHARE THE POINTS TO STAY UNBEATEN

 Mönchengladbach - Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FSV Mainz 05 both maintained their unbeaten starts to the 2014/15 Bundesliga campaign after sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Borussia Park on Sunday eveningMax Kruse put the hosts in front with a well-taken finish as Gladbach controlled the early exchanges, but Jonas Hofmann levelled from the spot shortly before half-time to ensure the visitors remain just two points behind in the standings. 

Strong start 

Following Gladbach’s energy-sapping draw in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening, Foals coach Lucien Favre rotated his attacking options by leaving Andre Hahn, Ibrahima Traore and Thorgan Hazard on the bench, instead fielding Fabian Johnson and Patrick Herrmann on the wings. The changes failed to disrupt the hosts’ rhythm though and they began the brighter of the two, with Raffael testing Loris Karius in the visiting goal with a smart shot from ten yards after just four minutes. It was not long before Gladbach did take the lead though. A well-worked team move down the left culminated with the ball falling to Johnson just inside the Mainz penalty area. The USA international swiftly found Kruse hovering around the penalty spot, and after taking a touch to control the ball, the forward flicked his left boot and directed it into the net. 

Hofmann replies 

The home team continued to attack and given their dominance all over the pitch, Mainz’s equaliser came against the run of play. After right-back Julian Korb was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box, Hofmann sent Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer the wrong way from the ensuing penalty. Raffael had a chance to restore his side’s lead just before the break following another flowing Gladbach move, but his left-footed shot flew over to allow Mainz to remain on level terms at half time. After the restart the Foals initially set about flexing their muscles once more and pressed Mainz deep into their own half, at times committing six players forward to close down the opposition. It failed to force any errors though, with a couple of long-distance Granit Xhaka strikes as close as they came to scoring again. Having withstood that early barrage, Mainz took control of the game for the first time, keeping hold of the ball and dictating the pace of the encounter. 

Gladbach wasteful 

That was obviously not to Favre’s liking and after witnessing his side struggle to muster the dynamism and energy of the first half, he brought on Hahn and Hazard in an effort to inject new vigour into the Foals’ play. The former went close within moments of taking to the pitch but his shot lacked accuracy and failed to test Karius, while Hazard had a gilt-edged opportunity to snatch the victory when played through by Xhaka, but Karius was once again able to block. The clearest chance fell to Raffael late on after another superb team move, but the Brazilian could not squeeze his close-range effort over the line after Hazard’s cut-back had taken Karius out of the game. Gladbach will likely view the draw as two points dropped, but the match nevertheless offered further evidence of their strength this term as a team to be reckoned with in the top third of the table.

Bayern Munich too much for Hannover 96 4-0

Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben star as Bayern Munich beat Hannover

Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben scored twice each as the champions crushed Hannover 4-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to go four points clear at the top of the table as rivals Borussia Dortmund lost to Hamburg.

The Bavarians needed only 13 minutes to tighten their grip on the game, scoring first through Poland’s Lewandowski after only six minutes and doubling their lead seven minutes later as Robben pounced on a Hanover mistake.

Lewandowski, who joined from Dortmund this season, benefited from a superb through ball in the 38th minute form Juan Bernat, for his fourth league goal of the campaign. Robben also go this second goal, slotting in 11 minutes from time as undefeated Bayern moved up to 17 points.

“Maybe it was our best performance yet [this season],” said Robben, who now has 59 goals and 42 assists in 110 Bundesliga games. “We had fun on the pitch and it was also great for our fans. We played very aggressively up front and created a lot of chances. We should have scored even more but 4-0 is good enough.”

Schalke tops Borussia Dortmund 2-1

SCHALKE CLAIM DERBY WIN AGAINST DORTMUND

Gelsenkirchen - FC Schalke 04 emerged victorious in an electrifying 145th Ruhrderby, overcoming arch rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at the Veltins Arena.The hosts were largely in command before the break and Cameroonian internationals Joel Matip and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting put them into a two-goal lead. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for Dortmund, but the visitors were unable to make their second-half dominance count, eventually paying dearly for mistakes before the break. 

One-two punch 

Schalke settled into their rhythm quickly against their Ruhr district opponents, repeatedly passing their way towards the Dortmund goal in the opening stages. Sidney Sam gave Dortmund a first serious warning only two minutes into the game, seeing his effort saved by Roman Weidenfeller, before Choupo-Moting was thwarted. The BVB keeper was eventually beaten in the ninth minute, however, when Royal Blues centre-back Matip was left to head home. It was the wake-up call BVB needed, with Jürgen Klopp's men slowly starting to find a way into the game in. Both Kevin Großkreutz and Ciro Immobile saw their sides' first attacking efforts blocked after 15 minutes of play, but it were the home side who remained the more threatening side. They were soon able to double their advantage when Choupo-Moting took advantage of a poor clearance from Adrian Ramos to lash in a second. 

Aubameyang strikes 

Dortmund had been victorious in three of the sides' four previous meetings at the Veltins Arena, and they nevertheless responded well to the setback, as Ramos set up Aubameyang to sweep home from inside the box and notch in this fixture for the second season running. Lukasz Piszczek then came close to levelling matters shortly before the break, with Ralf Fährmann doing well to keep the Polish right-back's effort out. The visitors kept up their momentum after the interval, breaking forward with pace and purpose and as they began to enjoy the larger share of the possession. Immobile and Piszczek from distance, as well as Aubameyang with a free-kick, all sent purposeful efforts towards the Schalke goal, but none could beat an alert Fährmann on his 26th birthday. 

No joy for Kagawa 

Intending to add creativity to his Dortmund attack, Klopp threw on Shinji Kagawa near the hour stroke of the hour, with the Japanese settling into the five-time champions' offensive midfield, but clear-cut goalscoring chances became increasingly difficult to come by as the game wore on against a stiff Royal Blues defence. The Japanese international was at the heart of most of Borussia's action as Schalke's disciplined back line largely held the Schwarz-Gelben to long-range efforts. Dortmund threw bodies forward in the dying stages, but it was Schalke that almost grabbed a third through Huntelaar in added time. The final whistle sounded soon afterwards to signal Schalke's first home win of the season and allow Jens Keller's side to equal Dortmund's record of 30 Revierderby victories.

Hannover 96 back to winning ways after nipping FC Koln 1-0

Hannover up to third as Hertha get off the mark

Hannover 96 moved up to third in the Bundesliga thanks to a 1-0 win over the hitherto unbeaten 1. FC Köln at the HDI-Arena.

Horn finally beaten

The Reds went in front after only five minutes' play with Joselu turning and shooting past Timo Horn after Jimmy Briand's effort was blocked. Not only was it the first time Horn had been beaten in the Bundesliga, but it was also the earliest goal Köln have conceded since Peter Stöger took charge. The goal gave Tayfun Korkut's men confidence and Marcelo perhaps should have doubled their lead with a volley which he sent over after good work from Leonardo Bittencourt and Leon Andreasen.

Köln responded in kind, pitching their tent in and around the Hannover box for much of the second half, but the hosts had drawn a line that they were not going to let the Billy Goats cross. Ron Robert Zieler was the furthest man behind that line and his authority ensured Hannover's defence was not going to be breached

Bayern Munich stamp its class on early leader Paderborn 4-0

Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring the second goal for Bayern 

Bayern Munich 4 Paderborn 0: Newcomers given reality check by the Champion.

A Mario Gotze brace helped Bayern Munich secure a comfortable 4-0 win to give high-flying newcomers Paderborn a Bundesliga reality check.

Pep Guardiola's side may have been unspectacular in the opening four games of their title defence, yet Bayern never looked like losing at the Allianz Arena against Paderborn, as Gotze's double, Robert Lewandowski's half-volley and Thomas Muller's close-range finish late on secured victory. 

Paderborn, competing in the Bundesliga for the first time, sat top of the table on goal difference ahead of Bayern prior to Tuesday's game after an encouraging start to the campaign, but they were well beaten by the champions. 

Gotze gave Bayern the lead after just eight minutes, steering home following a fine flick from Muller.  

Lewandowski hit back at his critics with a 25-yard effort in the 14th minute and Gotze netted his second 12 minutes from time before Muller applied a neat finish to Arjen Robben's 85th-minute cross to end Paderborn's unbeaten start to Bundesliga life. 

Guardiola threatened to ban his players from celebrating Oktoberfest if they failed to beat Paderborn, but Bayern never looked like slipping up as Gotze broke the deadlock after just eight minutes. 

Robben, back after missing Saturday's goalless draw with Hamburg, played Muller into the area and the German forward produced a delightful backheel for Gotze, who stroked a first-time effort into the net. 

Gotze fired a tame effort at Lukas Kruse as he went in search of a second, but Bayern did make it 2-0 after 14 minutes. 

Lewandowski produced a fine first touch 25 yards out, teeing the ball up perfectly for a half-volley that Kruse failed to keep it out.

The hosts continued to attack, as Lewandowski, Gotze and David Alaba all saw chances go begging, while Idir Ouali prodded straight at Manuel Neuer on the counterattack for Paderborn's best chance 24 minutes in. 

Gotze nearly added a third just before the break, as his low drive from the edge of the area deflected agonisingly wide. 

Bayern started the second half in a far more relaxed fashion and that seemingly presented Paderborn with the opportunity to fight their way back into the contest. 

The visitors crafted a good opening in the 58th minute as Rafinha cheaply surrendered possession and allowed Ouali to deliver a teasing cross from the left, but Xabi Alonso crucially poked it behind for a corner. 

Bayern needed Neuer at his best in the 70th minute as Suleyman Koc ran at Alaba and sent a stinging effort towards the bottom-right corner. 

Any hope of a late comeback was ended 11 minutes from time, though, as Gotze smashed in from close range following a clever Robben run down the right. 

And the Dutch winger then played a decisive role again in Bayern's fourth. 

The former Chelsea man darted past his man and fired a low ball in towards the front post to allow Muller to nip in to divert past the helpless Kruse. 

SC Paderborn continues its amazing run beats Hannover 96 2-0

...when in-form Elias Kachunga struck his third of the season to put the home side ahead

STOPPELKAMP STUNNER DOWNS HANNOVER

Paderborn - Moritz Stoppelkamp scored from 83 metres - a Bundesliga record - to help SC Paderborn 07 to a 2-0 win over Hannover 96 and continue their astonishing start to the season.After two draws at the Benteler Arena, Paderborn began with the urgency required to give their fans a first home win of the season. 

Stoppelkamp was lively in midfield, overrunning Hannover debutant Ceyhun Gülselam, although Hiroshi Kiyotake’s precise shooting remained a threat to the energetic hosts. 

The first real chance went the way of Kiyotake’s side, as Leonardo Bittencourt’s shot in the 23rd minute was well parried by Lukas Kruse. Paderborn make it count Hannover enjoyed more possession as the half wore on, with Manuel Schmiedebach firing a long-range effort wide, although Suleyman Koc’s direct running forced two excellent saves out of Ron-Robert Zieler, before the whistle went for half time. 

Koc and Stoppelkamp remained threats as the second period began, making the most of Hannover’s lack of attacking urgency to tear down the flanks and putting in cross after cross. Until the 70th minute, the visitors' defensive tactics were successful, with Marcelo dominating. 

However, when Mario Vrancic’s free-kick wasn’t cleared, Elias Kachunga was alert at the back post to open the scoring. Paderborn fans were already celebrating their first home win of the season when Stoppelkamp sent them into delirium with an injury-time volley from the edge of his own area to make it 2-0 with one of the most remarkable goals of the season.