A whirlwind weekend of Bundesliga action witnessed sensational goals, stunning comebacks and pivotal victories.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen continued their remarkable run at the top, while Bayern Munich flexed their muscles against Freiburg.
Borussia Dortmund crushed Union Berlin’s hopes of a first win in seven games, while Mainz and Borussia Monchengladbach played out a goal-packed draw.
We take you through the happenings of the Bundesliga matchday 7.
Borussia Monchengladbach and Mainz share the spoils in a festival of great goals
Bundesliga action for the week opened with Mainz 05 taking on Borussia Monchengladbach at Borussia Park.
The home side took the lead through in-form Florian Neuhaus, who climbed highest to steer in Franck Honorat’s cross.
Mainz replied immediately and spectacularly as young winger Brajan Gruda took the ball from a short corner and unleashed a long-range effort to level matters.
Aymen Barkok saw Gruda’s effort and said ‘hold my beer’ as he stormed forward from just inside the Gladbach half before entering the box and lifting the ball over goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas.
United States international Joe Scally saw two great goals and didn’t want to be left out of the fun. He thundered in a hit to deny Mainz a first win of the season as the clash ended 2-2.
Mainz remain in the drop zone, while Gladbach have slithered into mid-table after a poor start.
Serhou Guirassy hat-trick downs Wolves at the MHPArena
Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy continued his ridiculous form to bag his second hat-trick of the season to help his side defeat VfL Wolfsburg.
Both sides had made excellent starts to the season, but the French striker was the difference on the day.
Yannick Gerhardt had given the Wolves the lead going into the half-time break, but Guirassy netted a penalty before rounding Koen Casteels to put his side ahead.
He rounded off the scoring to spearhead Stuttgart to second in the Bundesliga while Wolfsburg sit in seventh.
Dortmund compound Union Berlin’s misery in 4-2 defeat
Dortmund saw out an enthralling 4-2 win over Union Berlin, condemning Urs Fischer’s side to a seventh consecutive defeat across all competitions.
New BVB striker Niclas Fullkrug has been in excellent form recently and opened the scoring early on as he turned in a corner.
However, Hoffenheim clawed their way back into the game via a corner of their own as Robin Gosens’ flick-on took a deflection to beat new contract man Gregory Kobel.
Union midfielder Alex Kral had the ball in the back of the net, but VAR disallowed it.
They took the lead a few minutes later as Leonardo Bonucci converted a penalty for his first goal for the Bundesliga side.
Nico Schlotterbeck brought Dortmund back into the game after the break with a spectacular long-range effort.
Marco Reus has been at the heart of everything good for Dortmund this season, and he set up Julian Brandt to fire home to make it 3-2.
Norwegian right-back Julian Ryerson got on the scoresheet against his former club as his shot took a wicked deflection to beat Frederik Ronnow.
Dortmund remain unbeaten and are level on points with Bayern Munich (17). They are two placed behind table-toppers Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen beat Koln in the Rhine Derby to stay top of the league
Leverkusen cruised to a 3-0 victory over Cologne to continue their unbeaten start to the campaign.
The first goal was well-worked, with the ball moving from Victor Boniface to Alejandro Grimaldo.
The Spaniard speared in a cross, and Florian Wirtz had the presence of mind to flick it back for Jonas Hofmann, who rifled it home.
Leverkusen doubled their advantage a few minutes later as Grimaldo crossed for his other wing-back Jeremie Frimpong to score.
Everything Grimaldo touched turned into gold, and he forced a save from Marvin Schwabe in the Koln goal after shooting from some distance.
When Koln created chances, they found Lukas Hradecky in the way as he made two excellent saves just before the break to keep his side in it.
Schwabe then denied Frimpong a second after Boniface set him up in the second half. The Nigerian international striker ensured the win, tapping in a cross from Hofmann.
Koln are bottom of the Bundesliga and look primed for relegation after a string of hapless performances.
Bayern trump Freiburg at the Allianz Arena
A rampant Bayern defeated Freiburg to keep the pressure on Stuttgart and Leverkusen at the Bundesliga summit.
The Bavarians took the lead fortuitously as Kingsley Coman’s supposed cross beat Noah Atubolu from an unlikely angle.
Harry Kane had Atubolu scrambling to reach a shot that dragged just wide a few minutes later.
Bayern doubled their lead as Leroy Sane drifted inside to start an attack and found Kane, who crossed for the German international to finish.
Sane continues his spectacular run of form for Die Rekordmeister. They will need to tie him down to a new contract soon.
Bayern continued the onslaught in the second half as another dangerous Coman shot sailed over the bar before Leon Goretzka hit the post.
The Frenchman had the last say as he raced on to a Konrad Laimer pass down the right channel and cut back in on his left foot before shooting.
The shot was deflected but crashed into the back of the net.
The loss leaves Freiburg in ninth position, and they will hope to push on in the coming weeks.
Around the grounds
RB Leipzig and Bochum played out a draw at the Red Bull Arena as Die Roten Bullen lost valuable footing in the Bundesliga title race. Bochum are 16th in the relegation play-off zone.
TSG Hoffenheim picked up a pivotal win over Werder Bremen to continue their fine start. Grischa Promel slipped in Maximilian Beier to net his fifth of the season.
The 20-year-old has now scored in all but two games for his side this season and showed new Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann what he is about.
However, Romano Schmid equalised for Werder Bremen before Promel put Hoffenheim back ahead with a well-struck effort from the edge of the box.
Bremen’s Justin Njinmah had a goal disallowed by VAR. In the dying minutes, Jens Stage thought he had given Bremen a point for their efforts when he scored a magnificent volley.
Marius Bulter replied with a fantastic volley of his own to break Bremen’s hearts and win all three points for Hoffenheim.
Augsburg and Darmstadt 98 clashed on Matchday 7 in a battle that seemed like an early relegation six-pointer.
Positioned 14th and 15th in the league standings, both teams were desperate for a crucial win.
The game spurred into life when Tim Skarke unleashed a spectacular volley just seven minutes after the half-time break.
Tobias Kempe calmly slotted home a penalty with only 20 minutes left to double the lead.
Ermedin Demirovic’s goal gave Augsburg hope, but despite the nervy ending, Darmstadt held on and secured a 2-1 win and vital three points.
Eintracht Frankfurt soared to victory with a 2-0 win over Heidenheim, marking only their second win of the 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign.
The match saw Jessic Ngankam falter early on, missing a penalty opportunity for Frankfurt.
However, the Eagles refused to be discouraged, with Hugo Larsson scoring in the first half to give his side the lead. Substitute Ansgar Knauff sealed the deal with a goal in the second half.
Heidenheim’s missed chances proved costly as they suffered their fourth defeat of the campaign.
Despite the loss, Heidenheim maintain a comfortable mid-table position in the league standings.
Bundesliga Player of the Week: Serhou Guirassy
Guirassy emerged as the undisputed player of the week, etching his name into the Bundesliga history books.
The 27-year-old bagged a remarkable hat-trick for VfB Stuttgart in their clash against Wolfsburg to secure a thrilling comeback win.
Facing a first-half deficit due to Gerhardt’s opener, Guirassy and Stuttgart refused to surrender.
The second half witnessed an extraordinary display as the former Rennes centre-forward single-handedly dismantled Wolfsburg’s defence.
Guirassy netted three goals in 15 minutes, completing his hat-trick and bringing his tally for the season to 13 goals in the opening seven games.
This feat surpasses the previous Bundesliga record held by the legendary Robert Lewandowski.
His goalscoring prowess has put him on the map as he spearheads Stuttgart towards a potentially historic season.
Matchday 8 games to look forward to
Gladbach face Koln in another Rhine derby. Koln will be desperate for a result and fancy their chances against Gerardo Seaone’s struggling side.
Leverkusen travel to take on Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena. Bayern will face Mainz, while Dortmund welcome Werder Bremen to the Signal Iduna Park.
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