Julian Brandt helped Bayer 04 Leverkusen into third place in the Bundesliga. The Germany U21 international scored a late winner for Leverkusen in their 2-1 win in Darmstadt. Hertha BSC lost their direct qualifying place for the Champions League following their 2-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and new manager Julian Nagelsmann missed out on an important victory against relegation rivals SV Werder Bremen, as points were shared following a 1-1 draw. World Cup winner Julian Draxler scored during Wolfsburg’s 2-0 victory against FC Ingolstadt, while Borussia Dortmund struggled to earn a 1-0 win at home against Hannover 96.
Löw in attendance during Leverkusen’s win in Darmstadt
Leverkusen started off as the better side, but without their injured top goalscorer Javier Hernández they lacked firepower in attack. 17,000 spectators, including Germany manager Joachim Löw, then saw Sandro Wagner fire Darmstadt into the lead shortly before the half-hour mark. Leverkusen managed to turn the game around in the second half, as Darmstadt skipper Aytac Sulu scored an own-goal 15 minutes after the restart, before Brandt sealed victory for the visitors after 77 minutes.
28-year-old Julian Nagelsmann became the youngest Bundesliga coach in history this week, but failed to grab a victory on his debut. Hoffenheim took the lead through Andrej Kramaric after ten minutes, but Werder levelled the score just three minutes later as Ermin Bicakcic deflected a shot from Bremen’s Papy Djilobodji into his own net. Hoffenheim’s goalscorer Kramaric was sent off in the closing stages of the game following a second bookable offense.
Draxler leads Wolfsburg to victory over Ingolstadt
Julian Draxler not only scored the important opening goal for Wolfsburg against Ingolstadt, but also proved a constant threat to the newly promoted side’s defence. Robin Knoche added a second goal to Wolfsburg’s lead with five minutes left to play in the first half. The Wolves, who take on KAA Gent in the Champions League next Wednesday, managed to fend off any attempt at a comeback from Ingolstadt in the second half.
VfB Stuttgart continued their impressive away record, claiming their fifth straight Bundesliga victory. For Hertha it was their first defeat in their last eight competitive games as they drop back into fourth place. Geoffroy Sergey Dié provided Stuttgart with the lead shortly after the break with his first Bundesliga goal. Filip Kostic doubled their advantage after 84 minutes.
Hannover suffer fourth defeat under coach Schaaf
Visitors Hannover 96 delivered a fighting performance in Dortmund but returned home empty handed as a single goal from Henrich Mkhitaryan was enough fot BVB to secure a victory. Dortmund struggled to break down the bottom side, with Germany international Marco Reus recording the best chance after 16 minutes as his direct free kick attempt struck the woodwork.
Hannover opened up slightly towards end of the first half and Dortmund have keeper Roman Bürki to thank that they didn’t enter the break with a deficit. The hosts increased the pressure after half time and scored from Mkhitaryan’s fine individual effort after 57 minutes. The victory sees Dortmund close the gap to table toppers FC Bayern to five points, but the defending champions will be able to restore their advantage when they take on FC Augsburg on Sunday afternoon.
