Oktoberfest Bundesliga round-up
Jürgen Klopp spoke in midweek following his side's 3-3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt about perfecting Dortmund's tactical system to find the clean sheets needed to complement the goals his side was scoring and perfection was what he got; Dortmund returning to form with a 5-0 demolition of Borussia Mönchengladbach.
A double for Marco Reus either side of half time against his former club spearheaded the Dortmund resurgence and was complemented by goals from Neven Subotic, Ilkay Gündogan and a late Jakub Blaszczykowski effort.
The win took the reigning champions to third place but no closer to Bayern Munich on points as the Bavarians' incredible start to the season continued with a 2-0 win over SV Werder Bremen, snatched late on with a superlative long range goal from Luis Gustavo with only ten minutes of play remaining. The opener was soon added to by Mario Mandzukic, the striker continuing his own impressive form by coming off the bench to seal a sixth straight Bundesliga win for Bayern.
An entertaining game in Düsseldorf saw Schalke go into the break two up against Fortuna before the home side fought back to take a share of the spoils with a brace from Dani Schahin.
Düsseldorf had yet to concede a goal in the league going into this game but if anyone was going to break their resistance it would be Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. And so it was to prove, last season's top scorer leaving mouths agape in the 13th minute when he chipped two defenders before rifling past Fabian Giefer from 20 yards out.
Joel Matip made it two after heading in from a set piece and Fortuna looked well and truly on the ropes going into the break. However a tidy finish from Schahin just two minutes after the restart gave the hosts hope and great saves from Giefer kept them in it going into the closing stages of the game before Schahin popped up again to score his fourth of the season and complete a sturring comeback.
Frankfurt continued their own unbeaten start to the season against SC Freiburg with two second half goals from Alexander Meier giving the home side the victory after Max Kruse's goal gave the away side the lead shortly after the restart. A sending off for Karim Guede in injury time rounded off a difficult afternoon for Freiburg.
In the South German derby VfB Stuttgart got their own season up and running with a win over neighbours 1.FC Nuremberg. It was a result that had more than a shade of luck about it, 'der Club' dominating possession and having the better of the play.
However they were always facing an uphill battle against a belligerent Stuttgart side who went 1-0 up after just 28 seconds, Marco Antonio marking a miserable return to the starting eleven by letting Vedad Ibisevic in on goal with a shocking back-pass, a chance easily converted by the Bosnian.
Antonio was subbed off just 16 minutes later but the damage was done, Stuttgart counter attacking clinically and sealing the win with a goal from Martin Harnik 15 minutes from time.
At the other end of the country another derby was raging as SV Hamburg continued their resurgence with a 1-0 win over Hannover 96. It was a win notable more for the resilience of a Hamburg side who showed none of the defensive fragility that has so badly hampered them in recent weeks.
Artjoms Rudnevs scored his second goal of the season in the 20th minute as Hamburg dug in and ground out a result against a Hannover 96 side who gave everything they had in the second half and may consider themselves unlucky not to have come away with a point.
FSV Mainz 05 snatched a 2-0 win from hosts VfL Wolfsburg, the goals coming from Junior Diaz, his first in the Bundesliga, and Adam Szalai. Though Mainz went into the break 2-0 up it was probably Felix Magath's team who had the better of the overall play, a lack of a clinical finishing costing his side dear come the final whistle.
Elsewhere FC Augsburg picked up only their second point of the season in a tame 0-0 draw with 1899 Hoffenheim, a side looking to make it three wins in three against the only side in the Bundesliga yet to win a game.
Hoffenheim can be excused for distraction as fans united at the beginning of the match to show support for Boris Vukcevic, the Hoffenheim player seriously injured in a car accident on Friday afternoon.
In the end it was a subdued contest, Augsburg holding the opposition at bay without ever looking like threatening themselves despite a late flourish following Sejad Sahliovic's dismissal in the 88th minute.
One positive for Augsburg to take from the game was that the result moved them a point closer to Greuther Fürth who were comfortably beaten by Bayer Leverkusen, a double from second-half substitute Sidney Sam undoing the struggling Bavarians who offered little and had looked happy to take a point from the outset.
