There was no lack of excitement as the Bundesliga returned after the international break. Leaders Bayern were made to come from behind to beat Bochum, Champions Stuttgart slumped to yet another defeat, while the long awaited Nürnberg win finally came in style.
Bochum stunned
Bayern Munich when Dennis Grote fired in a superb strike to give the home side the lead at a packed Rewirpower Stadion. However the visitors pressed forward and their quality finally overcame the effort and industry of the home side.
A cheeky finish from Franck Ribéry before half-time got the Bavarians back into the game and a brave finish from substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger sealed all three points for Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side.
Elsewhere, things continue to go from bad to worse for Champions
Stuttgart as they went down to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of
Hamburg. Even without captain and playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, the Hanseaten still proved too hot to handle for the clearly struggling Swabians.
Ivica Olic fired the home side into a seventh minute lead after being played in by Zidan. The Croatian grabbed his second after 22 minutes when Demel fired across the goal, and with the VfB defence static, Olic poked home from close range.
Ten minutes before the interval and Olic completed his hat trick. David Jarolim played the ball into the middle and with Osorio playing him onside, Olic fired past Schäfer to put Hamburg fully in control. Shortly before the half time whistle, Stuttgart were reduced to ten men when Pavel Pardo saw red for a challenge on Jarolim.
Down to ten men and clearly out of the game, Stuttgart duly went 4-0 down when Joris Mathijsen headed in a Trochowski cross. Serdar Tasci pulled back a consolation for Armin Veh’s side on 73 minutes.
Werder Bremen climb to second in the table after a 3-2 home win over
Hertha Berlin. A goalless first half was more than compensated with five goals in the second period. Hugo Almeida fired the home side in front after 57 minutes, only for Lucien Favre’s side to equalise four minutes later through Brazilian Gilberto.
However straight from the re-start Werder got their noses back in front with substitute Markus Rosenberg firing in after Diego had played in Hugo Almeida. The scoring wasn’t over however as the visitors grabbed a late goal through Okoronkwo.
Bayer Leverkusen and
Borussia Dortmund shared four goals in a 2-2 draw at the Bay-Arena. Mladen Petric gave the visitors the lead after 41 minutes only for Greek striker Theofanis Gekas to get the home side level after 52 minutes.
Dortmund got themselves in front once again when Petric took two bites of the cherry to beat Rene Adler after Lukas Sinkiewicz had unwittingly let the Croatian international in on goal. A late headed goal from Stefan Kießling however rescued a point for Michael Skibbe’s side on 86 minutes.
Nürnberg responded to the calls from trainer Hans Meyer to get their season up and running with an emphatic 5-1 win over
Eintracht Frankfurt. Greek striker Angelos Charisteas set the home side on their way after 20 minutes, while four second half goals completed the rout. Marek Mintal grabbed a brace, Zvjezdan Misimovic fired in a penalty, while Joshua Kennedy completed the rout after 86 minutes with the fifth. Japanese star Takahara had given the away side a 12th minute lead, but that was the only thing the visitors had to smile about this afternoon.
Mirko Slomka will be disappointed to watch his
Schalke side held away at
Hansa Rostock. Gerald Asamoah gave the Königsblauen the lead after 33 minutes. Minutes earlier the visitors were extremely lucky not to have had Marcelo Bordon sent off after the centre back brought down Agali with the striker clean through on goal.
To their credit Rostock fought back well in the second period and secured a point when Marc Stein took advantage of a poor Neuer throw-out to grab the equaliser.
Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Round-Up: Bayern Come Back, Stuttgart Plummet, Nürnberg Rampant