The 11th week of the Bundesliga campaign began with a surprise result as reigning German champions Bayern Munich were held to a scoreless draw by Eintracht Frankfurt at the Allianz Arena. The Bavarian giants had won their first ten league games on the trot and were odds-on favourites to stretch that streak to 11 games when they hosted Eintracht Frankurt, but ultra-defensive tactics of the visitors kept Pep Guardiola’s men, who have taken almost all of their opposition to task with their attacking football, at bay. The result has narrowed the German giants’ lead at the top of the league standings to five points, but they still remain favourites to win the title at a canter unless they undergo a drastic drop in form, which looks unlikely. But chasing teams will take note of the tactics employed by Eintracht Frankfurt in their draw and may attempt to repeat the same in their games against the Bavarians.
Augsburg and Mainz played out a 3-3 draw on Saturday at the SGL Arena. The result means Augsburg remain bottom of the table while Mainz are now 12th. Meanwhile, 1. FC Koln held Hoffenheim to a scoreless draw at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Oscar Wendt, Raffael, Granit Xhaka and Havard Nordtveit were all on the scoresheet for Borussia Monchengladbach against Hertha Berlin on Sunday as they registered their sixth successive win in the league. The Foals started their campaign poorly as they lost their first five games in an abysmal fashion that prompted Lucien Favre to resign from his post, and their fortunes have undergone a complete sea change under interim boss Andre Schubert. They have now climbed to fifth in the table with a haul of 18 points and have flung themselves in the running for a spot in Europe.
Schalke were held to a 1-1 draw by newly promoted Ingolstadt at home, and the Royal Blues are now fourth in the table while their rivals are eighth. Roger Schmidt’s Bayer Leverkusen lost 2-1 to Wolfsburg. For the Wolves, summer signing Julian Draxler grabbed the winner, and former Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner scored the opener. Former Manchester United and Real Madrid frontman Javier Hernandez scored the only goal for the losing side.
Marco Reus scored a brace in between a Henrikh Mkhitaryan strike to help Borussia Dortmund to a 3-1 win over Werder Bremen. The win moved Thomas Tuchel’s men to within five points of table-toppers Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings. The Rhine outfit have started their season in stupendous fashion, and their only defeat so far has come against the reigning German champions. However, they will find it hard to challenge for the league honours with the depth in the ranks of the Bavarians and the exertions of their own gruelling Europa League campaign.
VfB Stuttgart were 2-0 winners against newly promoted Darmstadt at the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium and are now 15th in the standings. Meanwhile, Hannover defeated Hamburger 2-1 to move 14th, while their beaten rivals lie tenth.