15th matchday of the Bundesliga: Frankfurt and Stuttgart lose

Bayer 04 Leverkusen – SC Freiburg 5:1 (1:0), Goals: 1:0, 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1 Patrik Schick (45th + 1, 67th, 74th and 77th), 2:0 Florian Wirtz (51st), 2:1 Vincenzo Grifo (55.)

You have to manage to miss a penalty and still be the most noticeable man in the game in front of a four-goal striker. But the standards of ordinary kickers no longer apply to Florian Wirtz, and if the 21-year-old wanted to change clubs in the summer, he would have increased his already exorbitant fee even further with this appearance.

After 24 minutes, Freiburg’s Lukas Kübler stopped the national player with a kick on the calf, for which referee Tobias Stieler could have drawn more than a yellow card. Shortly afterwards, Wirtz took a long ball from Jonathan Tah so perfectly that Ritsu Doan was overwhelmed with the challenge and could only foul him. However, Wirtz missed the subsequent penalty. But before halftime he played a pass exactly into the path of Patrik Schick, and the Czech scored his first of four goals with an elegant lob. After the break it was Wirtz himself who beat poor Lucas Höler in a tight space and hit the near corner. The man with the low-hanging socks and small shin pads also prepared Schick’s next two goals with precise passes. However, he wasn’t involved in the 5-1, when Schick scored after a corner from Grimaldo. Vincenzo Grifo only gave Freiburg hope for a very short time.

Wirtz and Schick’s gala keeps Leverkusen within reach of FC Bayern. After the defeats in Frankfurt and Leipzig, Xabi Alonso is the last remaining fighter for Munich.

Eintracht Frankfurt – FSV Mainz 05 1:3 (0:2), Goals: 0:1 Kaua Santos (15th, own goal), 0:2 and 0:3 Paul Nebel (27th, 58th), 1:3 Rasmus Kristensen (75th)

Tomislav Piplica will not have to completely give up his place in the cabinet of the most bizarre own goals, but the former Energie Cottbus goalkeeper has had strong competition from Frankfurt keeper Kauã Santos since this Bundesliga Saturday. The Brazilian, in goal against Mainz 05 for the sick Kevin Trapp (and with the reference of several strong performances recently), played teammate Ellyes Skhiri so sloppily that his clearance sailed into his own goal as an arc lamp. Instead of staring at the ball and heading it into his own goal like Piplica once did, Kauã’s head was apparently racing with thoughts of what he should do with this crooked thing – catch it and risk a sanction after a back pass? Fist away? Look away? It was a mixture of everything: the ball bounced from Kauã’s arm against the crossbar, from there again against the goalkeeper’s arm – and into the goal.

The scene suited an Eintracht that doesn’t really seem to know why it hasn’t won in five competitive games. Frankfurt’s shots trickled onto the crossbar and from there out of bounds; they played in the majority for an hour because Mainz’ captain Nadiem Amiri rammed his studs into Frankfurt’s Arthur Theate’s ankle in a red-worthy manner. And yet it was Paul Nebel who scored twice more for Mainz – once because Frankfurt’s Robin Koch deflected Nebel’s shot, then because Kauã Santos played a pass into nowhere that gave Mainz their third goal. Frankfurt ultimately scored from 34 (!) shots through Rasmus Kristensen. And Mainz? Jumps to fifth place in the table for the time being, two points behind third-placed Eintracht.

VfB Stuttgart – FC St. Pauli 0:1 (0:1), Tor: 0:1 Johannes Eggestein (21.)

It is these games that Sebastian Hoeneß fears like no other; he had already said this once before the game against Kiel. At home against a newcomer, the stress hormones flood the Stuttgart coach’s body. Newcomers are disgustingly putting themselves at the back and want to show the Champions League participants. Stuttgart’s players, on the other hand, who have already beaten Juventus Turin this year, no longer take FC St. Pauli as seriously as they used to, perhaps only unconsciously. These alone are two ingredients of failure.

In any case, Hoeneß will not console himself with the fact that he was right again. Johannes Eggestein scored the goal of the day after what was probably the first bad pass of the year from Angelo Stiller. VfB then had chance, after chance, after chance, after chance. At halftime the statistics recorded 12:4 shots, Nick Woltemade and Enzo Millot would have been successful at least once must. After the break, Maxi Mittelstädt had a huge opportunity to make it 1-1. The fact that VfB were still lucky is part of this strange game. The young Anrie Chase had caused a penalty that only young defenders cause, he pushed Oladapo Afolayan away too impetuously. But Eggestein slammed the penalty centrally onto the goal, and Alexander Nübel simply stood there.

Because VfB had to become more and more offensive, Hamburg had more chances, but nothing changed in the result. 14 points after 15 games is a very good result for the promoted team. And Sebastian Hoeneß is obviously right with another prediction: that this entire season is a very complicated one for VfB.

TSG Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach 1:2 (0:1), Tore: 0:1 Philipp Sander (23.),1:1  Andrej Kramaric (58.), 1:2 Alassane Plea (61.)

Borussia Mönchengladbach haven’t exactly stood out as an away power this season, and that trend continued at Hoffenheim. Alone: ​​It was still enough to win. Philipp Sander took the lead, then Borussia watched with interest to see what Hoffenheim had to offer. That wasn’t much at first until Gladbach’s Joe Scally fouled Hoffenheim’s Alexander Prass in the penalty area. Andrej Kramaric scored again after 13 goalless competitive games. But Gladbach had enough of a quick and brilliant counterattack, with Prass and Kevin Akpoguma letting Alassane Pléa outdance them. Borussia goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas, who represented Jonas Omlin, then thwarted various great Hoffenheim chances, so it was enough for Gladbach’s second away win of this Bundesliga season – almost a small pre-Christmas miracle.

SV Werder Bremen – 1. FC Union Berlin 4:1 (3:1), Goals: 1:0 and 2:0 Marco Grüll (13th, 17th), 2:1 Andras Schäfer (23rd), 3:1 Mitchell Weiser (45th), 4:1 Jens Stage (87th)

At Union they are known for keeping calm. They don’t panic after a few winless games – but after nine? Coach Bo Svensson last won at the end of October, and the 4-1 defeat in Bremen now adds to a series of failures. In addition, there is the throwing of a lighter against Bochum and the DFB’s pending judgment on the matter. Things aren’t going well right now, even by Union standards.

What could also give the Köpenickers something to think about: So far, the chronic harmlessness in the offensive has been the main problem; against Bremen, the team also conceded goals that shake the Iron team’s self-image: Marco Grüll scored twice without a Berlin player first had led a solid duel. Schäfer’s goal out of nowhere after a strong assist from Tom Rothe (a bright spot and a player to keep an eye on) was negated again by Mitchell Weiser; the full-back could have scored Bremen’s fourth goal before half-time. The second half was again characterized by Union’s weakness in attack. The fact that Bremen’s best player of the past few weeks scored 4-1 in Jens Stage was fitting for the celebration at Osterdeich.

With 17 points after 15 games, the relegation battle logically begins for the Köpenickers. Bremen, on the other hand, confirms the positive development under Ole Werner. European Cup qualification is a realistic goal.

Holstein Kiel – FC Augsburg 5:1 (4:1), Goals: 0:1 Alexis Claude-Maurice (5th), 1:1 Lasse Rosenboom (12th), 2:1 and 3:1 Phil Harres (32nd, 35th), 4:1 and 5:1 Shuto Machino (39., 90+1.),

Without Frankfurt’s Kauã, Augsburg’s goalkeeper Nediljko Labrović would probably have become the most prominent unlucky man of the match day, so it was enough to finish in a commanding second place. Kiel’s Phil Harres had sent the ball towards the middle of the goal from almost 20 meters after a good half hour. The ball probably fluttered a bit, it was also quite wet thanks to the proven northern German bad weather. But that didn’t excuse Labrović from punching the ball through his legs and into his own goal. At the latest, Kiel was intoxicated by the day’s form and competitive luck, which drove away all thoughts of the dreary season so far (five points, 17th place after 14 match days). Lasse Rosenboom had equalized Alexis Claude-Maurice’s early lead and Harris made it 2-1. Machino, who had already contributed two nice assists, curled a free kick into the goal before half-time to make it 4-1 and scored shortly before the end of the game to make it 5-1. How did Augsburg’s Keven Schlotterbeck sum it up recently? “That’s the whole crux of the matter.”