Bundesliga: Leverkusen wins, Gladbach advances, game interruption at Union

FC Augsburg – Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:2 (0:2), Goals: 0:1 Martin Terrier (14th), 0:2 Florian Wirtz (40th)

Augsburg’s full-back Dimitrios Giannoulis has been injured for the last few weeks. Perhaps that explains the Greek’s deep sleep in the 14th minute when he had his side completely sent off. It’s actually no secret that Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, who is racing there, shouldn’t be given so much freedom. Granit Xhaka played a long diagonal ball to the Dutchman, who sprinted and laid it low in the middle, where Martin Terrier finished. Scoring goals was made easy for the favorite, who apart from that was by no means outstanding. Keven Schlotterbeck’s supposed equalizer with the back of his head after a good 20 minutes didn’t count because it was just offside. Overall, Augsburg became bolder. Shortly before the break, Florian Wirtz, who had previously been rather inconspicuous, showed his skills. He first faked a shot from the left on the edge of the penalty area, which he fired just a fraction of a second later and sank through the legs of the FCA defense and into the right corner. Second chance, second goal – no football fireworks, but masterfully efficient.

Wirtz could have increased the score to 3-0 shortly after half-time, but FCA goalkeeper Nediljko Labrović parried his shot. Afterwards, the Augsburg team lacked the ability and the Leverkusen team lacked the will to significantly improve the score. There were no big chances until the final whistle. With a safe victory, Leverkusen took advantage of Bayern’s mistake in Mainz and, after being nine points behind, moved back within reach of four points.

Borussia Mönchengladbach – Holstein Kiel 4:1 (3:1), Goals: Tim Kleindienst (1st), 2:0 Robin Hack (26th), 2:1 Armin Gigovic (30th), 3:1 and 4:1 Alassane Pléa (43rd, 79th)

Sometimes coaches try to surprise the opponent with a move right from the kick-off. Just think of Florian Wirtz’s international goal against France in March after 7.92 seconds. Things didn’t happen quite so quickly for Gladbach. Furthermore, it is anything but surprising that headers from Tim Kleindienst mean danger – all the more astonishing how naively the Kiel team defended when the Gladbacher screwed himself into the air after 35 seconds. Even at 2-0, the promoted team didn’t look good: Nico Elvedi hit the ball long out of his own half, and two Holstein defenders couldn’t agree on who should clarify the matter. Robin Hack thanked him and lofted the ball over Kiel keeper Timon Weiner, who had come halfway out of the goal with bad timing.

Just a few minutes later, out of nowhere, Armin Gigović shortened the score, whose fantastic left-footed shot sank into Gladbach’s top corner like a picture. The goal gave the newcomers some self-confidence but no real threat to score. On the other hand, Kleindienst alone could have scored two or three headers. Alassane Pléa managed one of these after a corner to make it 3-1. After the break there was little change in the balance of power. Kiel tried, Gladbach controlled – and thanks to Pléa scored again. Kleindienst had another goal disallowed for offside.

Thanks to their success, Gladbach is moving closer to the European Cup places. The Kiel team remains deep in the bottom of the table with just one win and five points.

1. FC Union Berlin – VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:1), Goals: 0:1 Ibrahima Sissoko (23rd), 1:1 Benedict Hollerbach (33rd)

Dieter Hecking is an experienced hand; he has already seen 422 Bundesliga games as a coach. You learn a lot there, but he hasn’t seen anything like that either. The game ended 1-1, but how it will be scored is yet to be decided. But first things first: After 13 minutes, Bochum’s Koji Miyoshi tried to win a ball back in midfield, but as he turned, he hit Andras Schäfer with an open sole on the side of the shin. It wasn’t intentional, as far as you could tell, but still a clear red. Hecking was definitely hoping for something countable, Union Berlin is notoriously weak offensively this year, maybe if you’re stable enough at the back…

But outnumbered for almost 80 minutes? Difficult. With one more man, Union didn’t actually get any more stormy at first; instead, VfL took the lead. Ibrahima Sissoko headed in a cross from Felix Passlack, a simple goal, exactly what Bochum urgently needed. Only then did the Köpenickers develop a bit of danger, Benedict Hollerbach scoring the deserved 1-1 with a quick shot from the inside of the foot. At the start of the second half, referee Martin Petersen rightly took back a penalty for Union. Which was bitter from Berlin’s point of view, because after that they had to score a goal in the traditional way, and that’s just not their strength. Hollerbach was the only danger, but Bochum defended confidently even when they were outnumbered.

But the game will have an aftermath. Because Bochum’s goalkeeper Patrick Drewes was hit in the head by a projectile, presumably a lighter, in stoppage time, referee Petersen sent the players to the dressing room. The players stayed there for almost half an hour, then both teams returned to the field. Just not Drewes. Because Bochum had already exhausted its substitution quota, striker Philipp Hofmann had to go into goal. He didn’t have anything to do anymore because both teams only passed the ball to each other briefly. It ended 1-1. The sports court will probably now decide on the outcome of the game.