15.30 Kickoffs: Moukoko delivers derby to Dortmund, Augsburg shock Bayern
The 99th league edition of German football's famed "Revierderby" went to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon. Dortmund were able to secure their fourth consecutive derby win over rivals Schalke in a tense, yet largely one-sided game at Signal Iduna Park.
In addition to all the splendors of the Bundesliga's most famous matchup, German football fans kept their eyes on struggling FC Bayern München as the record champions traveled to the Swabian section of Bavaria to halt a three-match winless skid in the league.
Were Bayern able to rebound? The answer is no. FC Augsburg beat their regional rivals 1-0 in a shock upset. Julian Nagelsmann's FCB are now winless in four league fixtures.
In addition to all the splendors of the Bundesliga's most famous matchup, German football fans kept their eyes on struggling FC Bayern München as the record champions traveled to the Swabian section of Bavaria to halt a three-match winless skid in the league.
Were Bayern able to rebound? The answer is no. FC Augsburg beat their regional rivals 1-0 in a shock upset. Julian Nagelsmann's FCB are now winless in four league fixtures.
| Youssoufa Moukoko. | Photo: Borussia Dortmund |
BVB trainer Terzic made four changes to the staring XI that lined up against Man City midweek. Emré Can, Niklas Süle, and Giovanni Reyna all rotated to the bench. Julian Brandt, Nico Schlotterbeck, and Donyell Malen began in their places. Left-back Raphaël Gurreiro was a late scratch with muscular issues. The ever versatile Marius Wolf thus slotted in to work across from Thomas Meunier. Schalke gaffer Frank Kramer saw no need to tinker with anything, and trusted the same XI and formation that scored the team's first win of the season last week against Bochum.
Dortmund were able to locate some space on the outer fringes of the box in the opening ten minutes. There were nevertheless no really legitimate incursions into the attacking third from the hosts. Despite bossing possession, the BVB were the ones finding themselves nearly caught on the counter in the 19th, when Jordan Larsson was sent through. Reserve keeper Alexander Meyer had to rush out to put the brakes on the Swede. A possible foul by the BVB backstop proved immaterial as Larsson was offside.
As expected, the match was quite physically intense. A hotly contested 50-50 in the 28th led to a scene that absolutely no German football fan was happy to see. BVB captain Marco Reus was left writing in pain after a midfield collision with Florian Flick. Reus ultimately had to be stretchered off the field with what looked like a very serious ankle injury. Reyna relieved the skipper in the 32nd.
Shortly after Reyna's introduction, the hosts let a fantastic scoring opportunity go to waste. Bellingham opted to have a go himself in the 33rd when the American was wide open behind the player. Hertha net-minder Alexander Schwolow managed to deflect away. Perhaps a little affected by the injury, both sides were reticent to take risks for the duration of the half.
The game opened up considerably in the second half and Terzic's men were gradually able to generate some more chances. Malen immediately forced Schwolow into a save in the 46th. Bellingham saw a decent effort blocked five minutes later. Tobias Mohr had to clear a dangerous Reyna header away at the hour-mark.
Terzic sent on attacking reinforcements shortly thereafter and Schwolow needed to be on point to stop Youssoufa Moukoko in the 66th. The very active Moukoko, helped along by the pace of his fellow substitute Karim Adeyemi, got his foot around the ball several more times in the ensuing minutes, yet had trouble twisting himself into good shooting positions.
At long last, Wolf was able to locate Moukoko with a pinpoint cross in from the left. Moukoko crept in between the split defenders Mohr and Maya Yoshida to head home the 1-0 from close range in the 79th. Schalke poured forward in search of an equalizer, but it was the hosts who had the better opportunities down the stretch.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs, it proved a most unhappy homecoming for FC Bayern München gaffer Julian Nagelsmann. The man tasked with leading the German giants returned to visit the club nearest to his childhood home, FC Augsburg. The hosting Fuggerstädter stood up to the record champions from the start with aggressive pressing and marking.
After a very intense, largely even, first half at the WWK Arena, Bayern were caught napping on a set-piece and newly-acquired striker Mërgim Berisha opened his Bundesliga account with an easy finish off an Iago flick-over. Thomas Müller, Jamal Musiala, and the subbed on Serge Gnabry were able to get some efforts on target in search of an equalizer, but FCA keeper Rafal Gikiewicz stood tall until the very end.
In a dramatic late finish, FCB keeper Manuel Neuer came up top to help out the last-ditch attempts to draw level deep into injury time. Gikiewicz emerged the winner in the keeper vs. keeper battle, pawing away a Neuer effort at 90+4. Bayern's winless streak now extends to four league matches. The mighty FCB have scored just three league goals on the last four matchdays.
There were two other immensely entertaining shootouts in Stuttgart and Leverkusen. Eintracht Frankfurt survived a late comeback attempt by their Swabian hosts and completed a 3-1 victory. SGE attacker Daichi Kamada scored one and also racked up two assists in a masterful performance.
Over at the BayArena, Leverkusen hit the post twice in their bid to overcome visiting SV Werder Bremen. The hosting Werkself will surely be very disappointed with the final result, a 1-1 draw. Though the point technically moves Gerardo Seoane's team out of the relegation zone, they remain in 15th place.
Wolfsburg could drag Germany's red company team back into relegation territory with a win or draw tomorrow. In the event that Hoffenheim win or draw against Freiburg tomorrow, Bayern could head into the international break in 5th place.
