15:30 Kickoffs: Dortmund inflict more pain on Union, Guirassy records hat-trick, Leipzig drop points
Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart will spend the night at the top of the Bundesliga table after big wins in the latest set of Bundesliga 15:30 kickoffs.
Dortmund are in second following a 4-2 win over reeling 1. FC Union Berlin. Stuttgart are in top spot after a thrilling 3-1 comeback victory over Wolfsburg that featured another Serhou Guirassy hat trick.
There were also two surprises in the other concurrent matches. SV Darmstadt 98 topped Augsburg to win their second fixture of the season. Bochum held Leipzig to a 0-0 draw.
Dortmund are in second following a 4-2 win over reeling 1. FC Union Berlin. Stuttgart are in top spot after a thrilling 3-1 comeback victory over Wolfsburg that featured another Serhou Guirassy hat trick.
There were also two surprises in the other concurrent matches. SV Darmstadt 98 topped Augsburg to win their second fixture of the season. Bochum held Leipzig to a 0-0 draw.
| Photo: Borussia Dortmund/OneFootball |
Union trainer Fischer made two changes to the side that suffered defeat against Braga on Tuesday at the Olympiastadion. Christopher Trimmel replaced Josip Juranovic on the right wing while Aïssa Laïdouni took over for Lucas Tousart on the second attacking axis. BVB trainer Terzic made three changes to the side that lined up against AC Milan midweek. Ramy Bensebaini being unavailable following his red card last week meant Marius Wolf had to enter the XI. Emré Can and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens also started over Salih Özcan and Julian Brandt.
Union seemed determined to snap their six-game losing streak from the start. There were early warning shots from FCU German internationals Robin Gosens and Kevin Behrens. It was nevertheless Dortmund's German international Niclas Füllkrug who opened up the scoring. The 30-year-old - having scored his first goal in BVB colors last week - polished off a Marco Reus corner in the 7th. Celebrations in Signal Iduna Park had barely died down, however, before Union snatched the equalizer off their own corner in the 9th.
Ironically enough, Gosens' effort off a Trimmel corner deflected in off Füllkrug. Union thought they had taken the lead off another set-piece a short while later, but Alex Kral's conversion of a 18th minute free-kick was disallowed on a narrow offside call. Dortmund saw their own conversion off a free-kick (Füllkrug in the 26th) chalked off for offside as well. There would be a third lengthy VAR review in a half of many interruptions in the 29th.
After checking the video evidence, match official Pattrick Ittrich ruled that Mats Hummels had fouled Sheraldo Becker with a high late tackle in the box. Union's marquee summer acquisition Leonardo Bonucci strode to the spot to covert the 2-1; scoring his first goal for a non Serie-A side in his long and illustrious career. The scoreline held as the opening half drew to a close with little else of note occurring.
Terzic sought to improve his side's play by subbing on Brandt for Bynoe-Gittens at the restart. The move paid immediate dividends, with Brandt testing FCU keeper Frederik Rønnow seconds after kickoff. With plenty of moments and confidence, the Westphalian hosts began turning the screws. Nico Schlotterbeck opted to have a go from distance on the half-left in the 50th. The passed over German national team defender's powerful strike bulged the back of the far-right corner and the sides were level.
Shortly after that, Dortmund re-took the lead on a beautifully run counter by Reus. The former BVB skipper skillfully drew coverage on a four-versus-three break before offloading to a wide-open Brandt on the half-right for the 54th-minute 3-2. Matters began to seriously degenerate for Union thereafter. Former Union man Ryerson shot in the 4-2 in the 71st. Gosens helped the ball in past Rønnow with an unfortunate deflection on a poor attempt to clear the ball. The match wrapped up with the scoreline holding.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs, newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 were able to keep up their winning ways after collecting their first three points of the season against SV Werder Bremen last week. Torsten Lieberknecht's Hessians travelled to Augsburg and dug out a 2-1 victory against Enrico Maaßen's Fuggerstädter. Union loanee Tim Skarke scored a screamer in the win. Darmstadt won against a team that featured two of their former key players - Patric Pfeiffer and Philipp Tietz - signed away in the summer.
Dortmund would have concluded the set of concurrent kickoffs as league leaders, were it not for a spectacular comeback victory from VfB Stuttgart. Despite looking inferior against a visiting Wolfsburg side and trailing 0-1 all the way up to the 67th minute, Sebastian Hoeneß' Swabians charged back to win 3-1. The goals belonged to none other than scoring sensation Serhou Guirassy, who scored his second hat-trick of the season amid five multi-goal games.
Marco Rose's RB Leipzig once again had trouble with a team that threatens to become a bogey opponent. VfL Bochum took a point off the Saxons at the Red bull Arena in a match that ended 0-0. The German Red Bulls failed to covert from the penalty spot twice, with Xavi Simons and Emil Forsberg failing to best VfL keeper Manuel Riemann.
