Bundesliga Roundup: Borussia Dortmund close in on Bayern, Schalke’s misery continues

The Bundesliga was back in action this weekend after the international break and Borussia Dortmund were able to close the gap to Bayern in the title race.

Borussia Dortmund had a very eventful game against Hertha Berlin on Saturday evening, that ended in a 5-2 win for the Black and Yellows. After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, Dortmund wasted no time after the break, scoring five times to seal a fine comeback win.

Erling Haaland, to no one’s surprise, spearheaded the comeback, scoring an incredible four goals in just 33 minutes. Raphael Guerreiro scored the other goal in the win, while Matheus Cunha scored both goals for Hertha. Youssoufa Moukoko made his Bundesliga debut, becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Bundesliga, just one day after his 16th birthday.

Saturday started off the the biggest surprise of all, Bayern Munich were only able to manage a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen. Bremen took the lead on the stroke of half time through a Maximilian Eggestein goal, but weren’t able to hold on for the full 90 minutes. Kingsley Coman scored the equalizer for Bayern, who dropped points for only the second time this season.

Bayer Leverkusen squeaked out a 2-1 win over Armenia Bielefeld on Saturday, Leon Bailey and Aleksander Dragovic were the goal scorers for Leverkysen. Lukas Hradecky was credited with an own goal for the newly promoted Bielefeld.

Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg played out a 1-1 draw as well, with Augsburg mounting a late comeback. Florian Neuhaus opened the scoring for Gladbach in the 5th minute and they almost made it to the end but Daniel Caligiuri scored in the 88th minute to draw level.

Meanwhile, Schalke’s woes continue as they lost yet another game, this time a 2-0 defeat to Wolfsburg. Wout Weghorst and Xaver Schlager scored early for Woflsburg and they cruised to victory from there. Schalke are now rooted to the bottom of the table, with no wins in the Bundesliga since January.

TSG Hoffenheim and Stuttgart played out a back and forth 3-3 draw on Saturday. Hoffenheim jumped to an early lead through Christoph Baumgartner, only to have Stuttgart reply with two quick goals by Nicolas González and Silas Wamangituka. Hoffenheim wouldn’t be denied though, as they then turned things around, with Ryan Sessegnon and Andre Kramaric finding the net to give them the lead.

Stuttgart weren’t done either, with the late game heroics coming from Marc-Oliver Kempf scoring in the 94th minute to rescue a point.

RB Leipzig also dropped big points this week, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Eintracht Frankfurt. The Eagles actually took the lead in this one, with Aymen Barko scoring in the first half. But Yussuf Poulsen scored a stunning half volley to grab the point for Leipzig in the end.

Sunday’s games began with a 3-1 win for Mainz 05 against Freiburg, and Jean-Philippe Mateta put the game to bed in the first half with a hat-trick. Nils Peterson clawed a goal back for Freiburg in the second half but it wasn’t enough as Mainz got their first win of the season.

Union Berlin also picked up three points as they beat FC Köln 2-1. Max Kruse and Taiwo Awoniyi scored for the capital club, while Ellyes Skhiri scored the lone Köln goal as the Billy Goats’ winless run continued.