After Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart’s 0-0 draw in the opening round of Bundesliga matchday nine, the afternoon kick-offs on Saturday provided us with extra talking points after Bayern Munich comfortably beat Union Berlin 3-0, Eintracht Frankfurt thrashed Bochum 7-2, St Pauli beat Hoffenheim 2-0, Wolfsburg and Augsburg drew 1-1 and Holstein Kiel won their first ever Bundesliga game.
So here is what we learned:
Can anybody stop Omar Marmoush?
This afternoon, Frankfurt were free scoring and completely demolished Bochum, especially with a young side with the likes of Nnamdi Collins, Ansgar Knauff, Hugo Ekitike, Can Uzun and Nathanial Brown all contributing in their 7-2 rout of Bochum, but the person at the centre of it all was the man of the hour Omar Marmoush.
The Egyptian started his afternoon with a needle-threaded pass to Ekitike to allow the Frenchman to open the scoring. Marmoush would then score a direct free-kick to make it 2-0 for Frankfurt before providing the assist for Uzun.
Marmoush’s contributions take him to 12 goals and nine assists in 14 games and the 25-year-old looks unstoppable whenever he takes to the field if Frankfurt achieves anything notable this season Marmoush will be at the heart of it.
Wolfsburg needs a total reset:
The win against Dortmund in midweek papered over the cracks in the Autostadt. Wolfsburg have only won twice in the league this season against Bochum and Holstein Kiel and under Ralph Hasenhüttl they do not seem to be making any real progress and do not look like a better side compared to last season.
On top of this, the amount of money they spend every summer to achieve nothing indicates that things need to change if they want to actually be at a level their spending seems justified.
We are in for a tight relegation fight:
Apart from Bochum, who seems like a lost cause and their new manager will need to work a miracle to help them survive, we seem to have a tight relegation fight on our hands this season. Kiel’s first win in the league this season gives them hope that they can put up a fight for survival. St Pauli’s win over Hoffenheim gives the Hamburg side confidence after a season of unrest while their opponents will be condemned to the reality of their level.
The likes of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mainz, and the aforementioned Wolfsburg are also not far away from the relegation zone, especially with Kiel and St Pauli now gaining momentum.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
