"Kruse-control": FC Union Berlin crush Bielefeld behind veteran's masterpiece
Berlin's Köpenick club exploded for five goals scored by five separate players in a 5-0 shellacking of Arminia Bielefeld at the Stadion An der alten Försterei.
Bundesliga veteran Max Kruse contributed one goal and three assists in the blowout.
In his return to the grounds where he once coached 1. FC Union Berlin for seven long seasons, Bielefeld trainer Uwe Neuhaus dropped the fully defensive 5-3-2 pocket he used against Dortmund last week and configured a more offensive-minded 4-3-3. It made little difference.
Bundesliga veteran Max Kruse contributed one goal and three assists in the blowout.
By the 3rd minute the hosts had already jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The on-fire Max Kruse unleashed Sheraldo Becker wide on the right flank. The 25-year-old Dutchman tore down the field, ultimately servicing his axial partner Keita Endo with an easy tap-in.
A deft Kruse layoff for Robert Andrich ten minutes later led a doubling of the advantage for die Eisernen. Andrich thundered home underneath the crossbar from a left-center position just outside the area.
Two minutes into first-half injury time it was again Kruse playing the catalyst. The Bundesliga veteran played Becker in on the right. The Dutchman opted to have a go himself this time and found the back of the net shortly before the half-time whistle blew.
A triple substitution from Neuhaus at the restart only fomented more confusion in the Bielefelder ranks. Defender Amos Pieper Akaki Gogia (on early for the injured Endo) in the box three minutes in. Kruse converted the spot kick for a well-deserved goal of his own.
The pace of the match slowed thereafter as the hosts shelled up defensively and the guests failed to build coherent attacks. Substitute Cedric Teuchert added a late fifth goal courtesy of a Gogia set-up in the 88th.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs, Eintracht Frankfurt came from 0-2 behind to draw VfB Stuttgart 2-2. Schalke and Mainz ended with precise same scoreline, though the fixture at the Opel Arena featured more lead changes.
After a solid effort to hold off the favored side, Freiburg eventually crumbled to lose to RB Leipzig 0-3. Hertha BSC continued their upward trajectory with a very convincing 3-0 win at Augsburg.