Berlin (AP) – Borussia Dortmund has opened the hunt for serial champions FC Bayern with a difficult victory. BVB came in the top game to a 1-0 (1-0) against Bayer Leverkusen and started the season – albeit much more lackluster – like Munich with three points.
On the other hand, Hertha BSC, who were almost relegated, had a perfect start to the season with the next derby bankruptcy. A week after the cup knockout in Braunschweig, the Berliners also lost the Bundesliga opening game at city rivals 1. FC Union 1: 3 (0: 1) and thus suffered their fourth derby defeat in a row. There was also a small disappointment for the former master coach Niko Kovac, who came to a happy 2: 2 (1: 2) against promoted Werder Bremen with VfL Wolfsburg.
Successful home premiere for Gladbachs Farke
Borussia Mönchengladbach also fought a 3-1 (1-1) win against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim thanks to a manpower of more than 70 minutes and thus ensured a victorious home premiere for coach Daniel Farke after the cup victory. SC Freiburg played furiously in the 4-0 (0-0) away game against FC Augsburg. The Breisgauers took second place behind champions FC Bayern, who had overtaken Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 (5-0) the day before. VfL Bochum lost to FSV Mainz 05 1:2 (1:1).
Marco Reus ensured Dortmund’s victory with his early goal in the tenth minute, but this was seriously endangered in the second half. In addition, BVB lost international striker Karim Adeyemi early on, who hobbled off after 23 minutes. This increases the need for the black and yellow on the offensive, especially since newcomer Sebastien Haller will be out longer after his tumor disease. Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky saw the red card in added time for an illegal handball outside the penalty area (90+2).
Fourth consecutive derby win for Union
Goals from Jordan Siebatcheu (32nd minute), Sheraldo Becker (50th) and Robin Knoche (54th) sealed the next bankruptcy of Hertha in the An der Alten Försterei stadium in Berlin-Köpenick, which only survived the relegation last season had done. This leaves a lot of work for the capitals, who had reorganized themselves with coach Sandro Schwarz and President Kay Bernstein. Dodi Lukebakio’s goal (85′) came too late.
There was a small setback for Kovac in Wolfsburg. After Luka Nmecha’s lead (11′), Werder turned the game around within three minutes through Niclas Füllkrug (21′) and Leonardo Bittencourt (23′). After Max Kruse got in late, Josuha Guilavogui equalized (84′). Kovac, who had won the double with FC Bayern and the cup with Frankfurt, had returned to the Bundesliga after his Monaco guest appearance.
In Gladbach, Stefan Posch was the focus again. The defender saw the yellow-red card after just 19 minutes. In December 2020, it was Posch who was spat on by Marcus Thuram in the 2-1 win, for which the Gladbach striker saw red at the time. Despite being outnumbered, Hoffenheim managed to take the lead through Robert Skov (25′), but Ramy Bensebaini with a remarkable overhead kick (42′), Thuram (71′) and Nico Elvedi (78′) turned the game around.
Onisiwo scores twice against Bochum
Returnee Kevin Stöger scored a dream goal against his former club in Bochum (39′). The Austrian, who had played in Mainz for the last two years, put the ball in the goal from a good 30 meters. Nevertheless, the guests won thanks to Karim Onisiwo’s brace (26th and 77th).
Similar to Bochum, the new Freiburger Michael Gregoritsch scored against his ex-club in Augsburg. The striker, who has been playing for FCA since 2017 with a six-month break, headed the visitors ahead shortly after the break (46th). Vincenzo Grifo with a converted free kick (48th), returnees Matthias Ginter (61st) and Ritsu Doan (78th) made everything clear. As a result, the new Augsburg coach Enrico Maaßen thoroughly failed in his Bundesliga debut.
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