Bayern and Werder win
1. FSV Mainz 05 jumped into the top half of the table on the 10th Bundesliga matchday with a home win against Borussia Dortmund. The Rheinhessen are only three points behind the Westphalians, who had to play outnumbered for more than 60 minutes after Emre Can was sent off. League leaders FC Bayern showed no weaknesses against newly promoted St. Pauli at Millerntor. Champion Bayer Leverkusen looked like the winner for a long time on Dieter Hecking’s debut in Bochum before VfL equalized late on. Meanwhile, Holstein Kiel suffered a late defeat in Bremen, while it was Werder’s first home win of the season.
Borussia Dortmund remains a welcome guest in foreign places and has suffered the next sporting setback in the Bundesliga. The Champions League participant lost 1:3 (1:2) to 1. FSV Mainz 05 while outnumbered and is still waiting for its first away win of the season. In addition to the game, BVB also lost captain Can, who was shown a red card in the 27th minute for a serious foul.
In front of 33,000 spectators, Jae-Sung Lee (36th minute), Jonathan Burkardt (45th + 3) and Paul Nebel (54th) scored the goals for Mainz, who moved into mid-table with 13 points thanks to their first home win of the season. For Dortmund, Serhou Guirassy (40th) scored with a penalty kick to equalize. Due to the fourth defeat of the season, coach Nuri Sahin’s team, which is likely to come under further criticism, fell back to seventh place with 16 points.
The guests were the more active team at the beginning and tried to control the game. However, BVB was unable to create any significant opportunities against Mainz, who were strong in running and tackling. The efforts repeatedly bounced off the well-positioned FSV defense. Mainz initially relied primarily on counterattacks and had their first big chance of the game after almost 20 minutes. Nadiem Amiri served Burkardt, but the young international shot the ball over the crossbar in front of the goal. Dortmund goalkeeper Alexander Meyer, who once again represented the injured goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, would have been powerless.
The scene served as a wake-up call for Mainz, who subsequently acted more courageously and gained more shares in the game. The guests now came under more pressure, which increased after Can was sent off. The national player tackled Lee and was sent off the pitch. This further weakened the BVB defense, which was already missing the injured Niklas Süle and Waldemar Anton as well as the suspended Ramy Bensebaini.
It didn’t take long for Mainz to take the lead in the majority. After a cross from Anthony Caci, Lee scored with a header. The goalscorer also played a key role in the equalizer a little later when he brought down Guirassy in his own penalty area. The BVB striker safely converted the penalty. Nevertheless, Dortmund went into the dressing room with a deficit. With the last action of the first half, Burkardt scored in stoppage time on an assist from Danny da Costa. Even after the change, the home side didn’t let anything go wrong at the back and pushed forward through the fog. For the 22-year-old it was the first Bundesliga goal in his young career. Dortmund couldn’t add any more with one man less and was mainly trying to limit the damage. So the FSV had no trouble bringing home the deserved victory.
1-0 at FC St. Pauli: A lot of Musiala, little Bayern shine
A stroke of genius from Jamal Musiala saved FC Bayern Munich from an unpleasant surprise at FC St. Pauli. In the first Bundesliga game between the two friendly clubs in more than 13 years, the national player paved the way to the ultimately deserved 1-0 (1-0) with his dream goal from a good 28 meters in the 22nd minute to take the lead.
This means that the record champions scored fewer than three goals away from home for the first time this season. They missed the record of six games away from home with more than three goals. Their lead in the table remained unchallenged with 26 points. In the fifth competitive game in a row, the Munich team did not concede a goal. FC St. Pauli is still waiting for its first home goal since its promotion and therefore also for its first win at the Millerntor.
Thanks to Joker Burke: Werder ends their home curse against Holstein Kiel
In the fifth attempt it finally worked: Werder Bremen secured their first home win of the season in the Bundesliga. The Hanseatic League won against Holstein Kiel 2:1 (1:0) and thus rehabilitated themselves for the weak performance in the 1:4 in Gladbach a week ago. Werder had previously suffered two defeats and two draws at the Weserstadion.
Of all people, Oliver Burke, who had long since been retired from the Weser, scored the winning goal for Werder in the 89th minute. The substitute Scot scored with a beautiful header to make it 2-1. Jens Stage (36th) had previously given the hosts the lead in front of 42,100 spectators in the sold-out Weserstadion, and Phil Harres (48th) equalized for the promoted team shortly after the break. The Kiel team was unable to follow up their first Bundesliga victory with another three points for the time being. A week ago the storks won against Heidenheim, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough in Bremen.
Hecking surprise: Bochum draws against Leverkusen
VfL Bochum pulled off a little surprise when Hecking returned to the coaching bench. The bottom team in the Bundesliga fought their way to a 1-1 (0-1) home game against Bayer Leverkusen. The Bochum team, who presented the experienced Bundesliga coach as their new head coach on Tuesday, are still without a win after the tenth matchday, but they got at least their second point this season in the home game against the champions and cup winners.
Substitute Koji Miyoshi (88th) equalized the guests’ early lead by Patrik Schick (19th) late on. A well-deserved punt win for Bochum at Hecking’s premiere, who last sat on the bench as head coach in the Bundesliga at Borussia Mönchengladbach in May 2019. The Leverkusen team, on the other hand, continued their streak in the Champions League with the draw four days after losing 4-0 at Liverpool FC: Even after the third premier class game in a row, they did not win the subsequent league game. But they have remained undefeated in the Bundesliga for 22 away games across the season. The last away defeat was in May 2023 – in Bochum.
