Gladbach beat Augsburg
September 23, 2015![Fußball Bundesliga Borussia Mönchengladbach - FC Augsburg](https://static.dw.com/image/18736235_800.webp)
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 Augsburg
(Johnson 5‘, Xhaka 17‘, Stindl 19‘, Dahoud 21‘ – Verhaegh pen 51‘, pen 73‘)
Having gone five Bundesliga games without a point, Lucien Favre resigned from his duties as Gladbach head coach on Sunday evening. Andre Schubert was officially brought into the job on Monday, and Wednesday night was his first chance to change the course of the Foals' season. Despite a scare toward the end, he did just that.
After just five minutes, the home side took the lead. Lars Stindl powered his way into the box and found Raffael, whose blocked shot fell to Fabian Johnson who – in his first start of the season – smashed the ball in. 12 minutes later and Borussia Park was alive with a roar that had yet to be heard this season. Raffael was again involved, as his free-kick found the head of captain on the night Granit Xhaka, who guided the ball past Marwin Hitz.
Two minutes later and the score was 3-0. Raffael claimed arguably his third assist of the night in passing to Stindl on the edge of the box. The midfielder superbly curled the ball into the far top corner. A further two minutes later and Gladbach fans were pinching themselves in delight. Again, Raffael was the architect, as he played the ball forward for Mahmoud Dahoud, who duly laced the ball with power into the bottom corner from 25 yards. The first-half lead could have been four, had Patrick Herrmann been able to reach a rebound from Raffael's saved shot, but Borussia fans were in no mood to complain.
Paul Verhaegh gave Augsburg a glimmer of hope early in the second-half, after Alvaro Dominguez had elbowed Ji Dong-Won in the penalty area. And the Augsburg captain was once again given a chance to score from 12 yards after 73 minutes. Ji again the man involved, as Xhaka brought him down in the box – Verhaegh happy to slot home his second spot-kick of the game.
But Gladbach stayed strong and won the club's first points of the season, taking the Foals off the bottom of the Bundesliga table.
Hannover 1-3 Stuttgart
(Karaman 14‘ - Gentner 16‘, Werner 18‘, Maxim 91')
In the season's first six-pointer, Stuttgart and Hannover faced off at the HDI-Arena with both sides looking to claim its first win of the season. You could tell the game was important for both, as three goals came in the space of four electrifying first-half minutes.
The opener, from Kenan Karaman, had the home fans in raptures. Hiroshi Kiyotake's pin-point cross picked out the winger at the back-post and he slid the ball home. But the home side's joy was short lived, as the Stuttgart equalizer came just two minutes later. A neat turn and pass from Timo Werner sent Christian Gentner in on goal and he finished superbly into the far bottom corner.
Two minutes later and boos returned to the HDI-Arena as Stuttgart's quick-fire turnaround was completed. Gentner was again involved as he set-up Daniel Ginczek for a shot. But after Ron-Robert Zieler's save, Werner was fastest to the loose ball to give his side the lead.
The second half was a much calmer affair and Stuttgart were able to confirm the win when Alexandru Maxim finished from range with Zieler well out of his goal. Stuttgart finally claimed its first win of the season, whilst the pressure mounts on Michael Frontzeck as the Hannover head coach: now one of only two teams (the other, Hoffenheim) in the Bundesliga without a win.
Schalke and Leverkusen win, all square in Hoffenheim
In the three other games on Wednesday night, second-half goals from Joel Matip, Leroy Sane and Javier Hernandez earned both Schalke and Leverkusen all three points at home. In Hoffenheim, a second-half equalizer from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cancelled out Sebastian Rudy's first-half goal.
In a carbon-copy of the corner that saw Matip score against Mainz last week, Johannes Geis' set-piece found the defender's head before it nestled in the net. The second came from Leroy Sane, who strolled past a defender before beating Lukas Hradecky - Schalke's fourth win of the season takes them up to fourth. After a powerful and skillful run forward, ‘Chicharito' scored his first Bundesliga goal with the help of a deflection from Hakan Calhanoglu to give Leverkusen the win against Mainz.
Hoffenheim should have been 2-0 up before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – now the first player to score in each of the first six games of the season – stole the headlines. Sebastian Rudy neatly finished two minutes before the break for a half-time lead and in the second-half, a chip from Eduardo Vargas was saved from going over the line by the post. Dortmund made the most of its fortune, when Aubameyang finished off a tidy move involving Mats Hummels and Gonzalo Castro. The draw means that Bayern Munich remains top of the Bundesliga.
Bundesliga Matchday 6 (Wednesday) Results:
Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-2 Augsburg
Hannover 1-3 Stuttgart
Schalke 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 Mainz
Hoffenheim 1-1 Borussia Dortmund