15:30 Kickoffs: Wolfsburg-Stuttgart ends in controversial draw, four teams earn clean sheet wins

Sebastian Hoeneß' VfB Stuttgart managed to snatch a late draw off of Ralph Hasenhüttl's northern Autostädter in a Saturday afternoon affair that featured plenty of controversy. Match official Sven Jablonksi - due to current Bundesliga VAR regulations - was permitted to review one poor disciplinary choice, but not given the opportunity to take another look at another. In the end, the two sides split the difference in a fixture sure to serve as a major talking point from the 2024/25 campaign's fifth match-day. 

Hoeneß - interestingly enough - made one change to the team that dismantled Dortmund last Sunday. Brace-scorer Deniz Undav was given a break. Fabian Rieder took the German international's roster place and started on the right wing. The eclectic Enzo Millot moved from the right wing into Undav's ten slot whilst the Swabians maintained their 4-2-3-1 formation.

Hasenhüttl employed two changes the XI that lined up against Leverkusen last week. Defender Konstantinos Koulierakis - a key component in one of Hasenhüttl's in-match tactical shifts against the league champs - played from the start this time. Koulierakis replaced winger Ridle Baku. An injury to Patrick Wimmer also handed disaffected striker Jonas Windhis first start of the season. 

New VfB entrant Rieder contributed some fine play almost immediately, setting up striker Ermedin Demirovic with a fine through ball in the 4th. As he has so often in this young campaign, new VfL keeper Kamil Grabara bailed his team out with a strong save. The Baden guests continued to look the far more confident side throughout the early going. Wolfsburg appeared tentative in their new 4-4-2. 

The Lower Saxon hosts were nevertheless able to grab the game's opening goal in the 20th by pouncing on a loose ball off a Stuttgart throw-in. Wind secured his first goal of the season on the 1-0. His partner up front, Mohammed Amoura, supplied the assist. Hoeneß' men struggled to muster up a response, but were able to draw level via a penalty at the half-hour-mark.

A totally unnecessary foul from Sebastian Bornauw on Jamie Leweling in the box immediately led match official Sven Jablonski to point to the spot. Millot actually failed to convert with his first effort from the spot against Grabara, but was able to stuff home the rebound for the 32nd minute 1-1. From that point forward, the visiting side looked likely to score. Maximilian Mittelstädt swept an effort just wide in the 39th. 

The flow of the match found itself largely unaltered after the restart. Wolfsburg sat deep and soaked up mostly uninterrupted Stuttgart attacking waves. The Cannstatter nonetheless weren't able to fashion any decent scoring chances against the low block, also struggling to make the most of some set-pieces awarded in potentially dangerous areas. An extremely controversial moment then swing the match. 

Jablonksi falsely sent Stuttgart skipper Atakan Karazor off on double yellows in the 63rd after a purported foul by Karazor on his Wolfsburg counterpart Maximilian Arnold. Replays quickly confirmed that it was the Wolfsburg captain who actually initiated contact on Karazor. Unfortunately, the scene did not count as a VAR-reviewable play. Karazor was thus ejected from proceedings falsely. 

Matters then got extremely bitter for Stuttgart in the 68th when a turnover from the just subbed-on Undav enabled Jakub Kaminiski to play Amoura through for the 2-1. More controversy ensued. Jablonski initially sent Amoura off on a straight red for a tackle on Leweling in the 74th. It seemed there might be some karmic justice for the guests as replays showed that the Wolfsburg striker's contact on Leweling was light. 

Unlike in the case of Karazor, however, the fact that Amoura received a direct sending off meant that VAR could intervene. Jablonski was compelled to review his decision by the video assistants, then ended up reversing the call. Ten-man Stuttgart weren't able to able to achieve much against Hasenhüttl's troops after that Undav atoned for his earlier error by heading home the equalizer at 90+7.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga's 15:30 kickoffs, Marco Rose's RB Leipzig ended their long league scoring drought, erupting to send four goals past visiting FC Augsburg. Striker Benjamin Seiko bagged a scorer's brace and registered an assist in the 4-0 victory over the visiting Fuggerstädter. Loïs Openda also netted a goal and assisted another. Perhaps most importantly from an RB perspective, Dutch phenom Xavi Simons finally managed to open his 2024/25 league account. 

In what constitutes a major upset, FC St. Pauli traveled to SC Freiburg and punched out their Breisgauer hosts with a 3-0 shutout win. Alexander Blessin's Pirates successfully built on their strong performance against Leipzig last week. The new 3-4-3  produced a brace from new starter Elias Saad and another goal from Saad's new front-line colleague Daniel Afolayan. Freiburg did see two goals disallowed, however. Vincenzo Grifo also missed from the spot. 

FC Heidenheim were able to get back to winning ways with a 2-0 win over Bo Henriksen's FSV Mainz 05 at the MEWA Arena. The fixture in the Pfälzer capital also featured sending offs on both sides. Borussia Mönchengladbach's home match against Bo Svensson's visiting 1. FC Union Berlin seemed destined to end in a 0-0 draw until substitute Tomas Cvancara snatched a dramatic late 1-0 winner at 90+6.