Germans abroad: Weekend round-up
German talent is featured around the footballing globe. We look at the best performances of the weekend from Deutschland's exported talent.
Kai Havertz and Timo Werner joined a long list of German players plying their trade abroad with their moves to Chelsea this summer. With 25 players across the top 4 leagues abroad in Europe, as well as hundreds more plying their trade all across the globe, Germany’s footballing talent can be found in almost every corner of professional football worldwide.
In this weekly series, we take a look at the weekend performances of Germans around the globe.
England:
Timo Werner & Kai Havertz (Chelsea)
Result: 0:3 W vs Burnley
Minutes played: Werner 90’, Havertz Subbed Off 86’
Timo Werner:
After contesting 90 minutes in Russia midweek, Frank Lampard was looking to rest his summer acquisition over the weekend. However, an injury to Pulisic in the warm up meant Werner found himself starting for The Blues on Saturday, a decision that ultimately paid off. A big part in Ziyech’s opener in the 27’ minute was capped off with a goal of his own in the 70th. Werner now has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 5 appearances for Chelsea.
Kai Havertz:
Havertz continued his streak of starting every Premier League game for Chelsea, playing 86 minutes on Saturday. For Havertz it was much the same, a couple good touches and a high defensive output, but without that final touch to add a second goal to his Premier League account. Fans of the Bundesliga will know that Havertz is a notoriously slow starter, with just 3 of his 18 goal contributions coming in the hinrunde last season, however Lampard will be hoping Havertz’s best can come soon with the amount of important fixtures piling up.
İlkay Gündoğan (Man. City)
Result: 0:1 W vs Sheffield United
Minutes played: 85’ Subbed in
After 236 minutes in 7 days, Gündoğan was given a well earned rest over the weekend, only coming in for the final 5 minutes to tighten up the side defensively. Another impressive performance midweek that was capped off with his second goal in just as many Champions League games should see him come in again for City’s midweek fixture at home to Olympiacos.
Bernd Leno (Arsenal)
Result: 0:1 W vs Manchester United
Minutes played: 90’
Arsenal win their first match at Old Trafford in 14 years, with Bernd Leno keeping a clean sheet in what was a pretty comfortable afternoon for the German shot stopper. Apart from a smart save in the 21’ minute against Rashford, Leno was relatively unchallenged. The win on Sunday puts Arsenal in 8th place, 1 point off of Wolves in the final Champions League spot.
*Shkodran Mustafi also made his second appearance off the bench this season, coming on in the 87’ minute as an extra presence at the back.
Pascal Groß (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Result: 2:1 L vs Spurs
Minutes Played: 90’
Former Ingolstadt midfielder Pascal Groß makes his first start for Brighton this season in the Seagulls 2:1 loss away to Spurs. Groß had a positive impact for Graham Potter’s side, with his clean through ball to Bayern target Tariq Lamptey allowing the Englishman to level on 56’ minutes. The goal was not the only instance where Groß showed his class in the final third, with 2 more key passes in the match (most of any player). Although Potter's men have put in good performances throughout the opening weeks of this season, Brighton sit in 16th place, just two spots ahead of the drop zone.
Spain:
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
Result: 4:1 W vs Huesca
Minutes played: 69’ Subbed on
After another dire performance midweek against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Zidane was desperate for a win against SD Huesca in Saturday's La Liga fixture. Unlike two weekends ago, Real did not slip up to another newly promoted side, convincingly beating the northern club 4:1. Kroos found his place on the bench on Saturday, unsurprising after coming off 2:0 down on Tuesday, and his replacement Modric playing a key part in Madrid’s late resurgence. Kroos did provide his usual dominance in the midfield when coming on, getting all 28 of his passes to his man in the late stages of Saturday's fixture.
France:
Thilo Kehrer (PSG)
Result: 0:3 W vs Nantes
Minutes played: 66’ Subbed on
Kehrer celebrated his comeback from injury on Saturday, registering his first minutes for PSG since the mid September loss against Marseille. A couple of decent touches and a 94% pass percentage left a good impression on Tuchel, however Nantes never really threatened Kehrer defensively. Fully recovered from his abductor strain, Kehrer could feature midweek against RB Leipzig, in what is a crucial Champions League fixture for both sides involved.
*Julian Draxler did not feature in Saturday’s match due to a hamstring injury picked up last weekend.
Kevin Volland (AS Monaco)
Result: 4:0 W vs Bordeaux
Minutes played: 67’ Subbed Off
After 6 appearances without a goal, Volland has finally broken the ice, netting twice in Monaco’s 4:0 victory on Sunday. Although neither goal was particularly spectacular, with both coming relatively uncontested from inside the 6 yard box, the brace should give Volland the fuel to kick on in France and help Monaco reach European football again.
This victory puts Monaco in 7th place, just 2 places off of the final Europa League spot, and relieves a lot of the pressure on Kovac’s shoulders following their 4:0 halftime deficit against Lyon last matchday.
Italy:
Julian Chabot (Spezia Calcio)
Result: 1:4 L vs Juventus
Minutes played: 90’
Spezia continues to search for their first home victory of the season after losing 4:1 to a Ronaldo inspired Juventus. With 16 shots for Spezia compared to Juventus’ 7, the final score flatters what was a dull performance from The Old Lady, and sees Spezia sit in 16th dangerously close to the drop zone. For Chabot it was a match of mixed emotions. A sublime goal line clearance on the stroke of halftime kept Spezia level going into halftime, however a tactical foul in the 49’ minute meant Chabot was sacrificed with 15 minutes remaining with Juventus already 3:1 to the good and commanding the second half.
Other:
Karim Adeyemi (RB Salzburg- Austrian Bundesliga)
Result: 5:0 W vs Tirol
Minutes played: 61’ Subbed Off
Although 20 year old winger Noah Okafor stole the headlines with his hattrick, 18-year-old German youth international Karim Adeyemi put in a solid performance in his first start of the season. Particularly in Salzburg’s first goal, Adeyemi’s link up play with Szoboszlai played a key role in creating a tap in for the Swiss international Okafor. Adeyemi will be disappointed not to have got on the scoresheet himself, but overall Adeyemi gave a good impression again to manager Jesse March.
Johannes Eggestein (LASK- Austrian Bundesliga)
Result: 0:2 W vs Sturm Graz
Minutes Played: 90’
Bremen loanee Johannes Eggestein opened his account in the Austrian topflight on Sunday, adding the second in LASK’s 2:0 victory over 5th place Sturm Graz. Before putting in LASK’s second of the night, Eggestein also played his part in the opener, sliding a well-timed through ball into Husein Baslic who slotted it away. In the two matches Eggestein has contested since signing on October 5th, the brother of Bremen midfielder Johannes Eggestein has contributed to 1 goal and 2 assists; a pretty good start to life in Austria.
Lucas Nmecha (RSC Anderlecht- Belgian Pro League)
Result: 1:0 W vs Royal Antwerp
Minutes played: 90’
Nmecha was unable to build upon his brace last Friday, although a late goal from substitute Paul Mukairu gave Anderlecht crucial 3 points in their bid for the Pro League title. Although unable to add to his 4 goals this season, Nmecha nevertheless provided a threat throughout, leading Anderlecht for both aerials won and dribbles completed, as well as forcing Antwerp keeper Jean Butez into a good save with his 1 shot on target.
Marco Stiepermann (Norwich City- English Championship)
Result: 1:3 W vs Bristol City
Minutes played: 90’
Norwich city continue to impress, with Daniel Farke’s side winning their 4th match in their last 5 outings in the Championship. Dortmund academy graduate Marco Stiepermann returned to the side after a back injury, and immediately made his presence known. A brilliant through ball in the 6’ minute to assist Teemu Pukki opened the scoring for The Canneries, and set a sign for the rest of the match. Norwich went on to win 3:1, and sit in 4th place after 9 matchdays, 5 points off of Reading in top spot.
Mario Götze, Adrian Fein, Philipp Max (PSV- Dutch Eredivisie)
Result: 4:0 W vs ADO Den Haag
Minutes played: Götze Subbed Off 88’, Fein 90’, Max Subbed In HT
Mario Götze:
Götze continues his renaissance at PSV with another stellar performance in the Dutch sides Sunday fixture. A one two that led to PSV’s Eran Zahavi winning a penalty to open the scoring, as well as a header that ricocheted off the woodwork to the feet of Nonso Madueke to tap in meant Götze once again impressed in the red & white of PSV’s home strip.
Adrian Fein:
In his first start for PSV, Adrian Fein directly went the full 90, commanding the midfield and proving any doubters wrong who speculated the move from the 3rd Bundesliga to PSV was too large a step. With the most accurate passes (85) and a performance equally impressive at both ends of the pitch, Bayern will be hoping for more performances like Sunday's from Adrian Fein in his one year loan in the Netherlands.
Philipp Max:
Although playing just half the minutes of his two German teammates on Sunday, the former Augsburg fullback could arguably have had the most impressive performance of the lot, with an assist for Madueke’s 90th minute brace, as well as an earlier cross that led to Götze’s header onto the woodwork. Max now has 4 assists this season, joint top of the Eredivise.
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