Bundesliga Saturday Roundup: Dortmund Win Late, Leipzig Thrash Elversberg as Bremen Beat Mainz

Borussia Dortmund beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 and RB Leipzig thrashed Elversberg 4-0 in Round 7 of the Bundesliga. Werder Bremen also won a wild 3-2 game at Mainz 05.

Maximilian Beier scored the only goal in the 80th minute at Signal Iduna Park. It came after a smooth move that started in the back line and ran through Waldemar Anton, Nico Schlotterbeck and Ramy Bensebaini. Jobe Bellingham then fed Beier, who finished high to the far side. Both had come off the bench. Dortmund had 58% of the ball, 18 shots to Frankfurt’s 8 and 13 corners to 1. Serhou Guirassy had five shots and hit the woodwork but could not score, while Gregor Kobel made three saves at the other end. Joey Veerman was the top-rated player, with 66 completed passes and five key passes. Frankfurt defended well for long spells, with 48 clearances, but managed only one shot from inside the box in the second half. Nnamdi Collins and Farès Chaïbi were both booked.

The game between Leipzig and Elversberg was goalless at half-time, then the hosts took over. Tidiam Gomis scored in the 48th minute from an Antonio Nusa assist. Rômulo, who came on at the break, made it 2-0 in the 66th with a neat finish on the break. Christoph Baumgartner headed in a Brajan Gruda cross in the 84th, and Rômulo added a fourth in added time after Abdoul Kone set him up. Almost all of Leipzig’s expected goals (2.81 of 2.86) came after the break, and Rômulo’s two goals in 45 minutes earned him a 9.8 rating, the highest of the day. Elversberg had just one shot on target all game and none in the second half.

At Mainz, Bremen won two penalties early, and Niclas Füllkrug scored both, in the 7th and 25th minutes. Anthony Caci pulled one back for Mainz in the 33rd with a header from a Sheraldo Becker cross. Ludovit Reis restored the two-goal lead in the 61st, but Mainz answered almost at once when Jae-sung Lee headed in a Caci cross two minutes later. Mainz controlled the final stretch, with 18 shots and 88 entries into the final third to Bremen’s 37, but could not find an equaliser. Bremen made 44 clearances to hold on. Caci was the top-rated player at 8.7, though fans voted for Füllkrug.

Paderborn beat Hamburger SV thanks to Rayan Philippe, a 70th-minute substitute, who scored in the 88th minute from a set-piece routine, with Felix Götze supplying the delivery. It settled a slow game that had no shots on target in the first half. Paderborn had 62% of the ball, 16 shots to 9 and six shots on target to one, and they also hit the woodwork through Laurin Curda. Hamburger SV lost Fábio Vieira to injury in the 13th minute and spent most of the second half defending deep, making 46 clearances. Raphael Obermair, who attempted 14 crosses, was the top-rated player.

It was a messy afternoon for Augsburg and Union Berlin. Union went down to ten men in the 19th minute when Felix Uduokhai was sent off for a last-man foul. Augsburg also lost Calvin Brackelmann to injury early, and later finished with ten as well when Abdulai Juma Bah was shown a straight red in the 63rd. Han-Noah Massengo headed Augsburg in front in the 71st minute from a Fabian Rieder cross, but Union equalised three minutes later through Janik Haberer, who finished a set-piece chance. Augsburg had 25 shots to Union’s 6 and 66% of the ball but could not find a winner. Union made 46 clearances, and goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow made four saves.

Finally, Köln had 62% of the ball, 14 shots and the two biggest chances of the game against Schalke, but could not score. Marius Bülter and Said El Mala both missed good opportunities, and Köln completed just 2 of 17 crosses. Schalke defended well and had Loris Karius to thank for four saves. Captain Timo Becker was the top-rated player, winning eight duels and making a goal-line clearance. Schalke also hit the woodwork through Satoshi Tanaka, and fans picked Karius as their man of the match.