Frankfurt and Freiburg victorious; Leverkusen held
A 3-1 Matchday 8 success against Hannover 96 keeps Eintracht Frankfurt in second place, while VfL Wolfsburg were left stranded at the foot of the table after their 2-0 home defeat to SC Freiburg. Elsewhere, Bayer 04 Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw against 1. FSV Mainz 05.
Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 Hannover 96
Despite conceding their first defeat of the season on Matchday 7, Eintracht Frankfurt looked anything but irritated in an action-packed first half as they started furiously against Hannover 96. Karim Matmour opened the scoring inside five minutes with a close-range header before a good team effort resulted in Sebastian Jung making it 2-0 shortly after. However, Hannover found a way back into the game, and while Sergio da Silva Pinto's volley and Mario Eggimann's header proved unsuccessful, Mohammed Abdelloue clawed a goal back just before the interval when he put the finishing touches on a quality one-touch move from the visitors.
Frankfurt show no signs of faltering
Nevertheless, Frankfurt were clearly in charge after the break despite Stefan Aigner failing to get the better of the guest's goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler before Japan international Takashi Inui's beautiful drop-kick flew just wide of the post. In similar fashion to the first half, Hannover got more of a grip the longer the game went. Didier Ya Konan wasted the Niedersachsen side's best opportunity when he was thwarted by Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, before Karim Haggui headed over the crossbar. However, Alex Meier's fifth goal of the season eventually decided the encounter when he nodded the ball into the back of the net with little time remaining.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-2 1. FSV Mainz 05
Die Werkself were looking to make the most of their home advantage early on, with Stefan Kießling finding the head of Simon Rolfes and himself going close with a deft header that whistled narrowly over. Mainz found respite in the 16th minute as Andreas Ivanschitz rifled over from the edge of the area, before Leverkusen reasserted their authority on the contest shortly before half-time as Kießling headed home Daniel Carvajal's inviting cross, despite Wetklo’s best efforts.
Parity
Mainz had created very little, so it came as quite a surprise when Adam Szalai beat his marker to prod home Zdenek Pospech's right-wing cross and his fourth goal of the season in the 58th minute. Leverkusen were flagging and crumbled 17 minutes later as Szalai sprayed a stunning ball over the top for Marcel Risse to slam past Bernd Leno from 18 yards out, before Gonzalo Castro struck late to ensure the hosts took a share of the spoils at the BayArena.
VfL Wolfsburg 0-2 SC Freiburg
A rare moment of promise fell the Wolves' way shortly around the 18-minute mark, with Bas Dost - restored to the starting eleven - teeing up Ferhan Hasani, who warmed the palms of Oliver Baumann. Felix Magath's disjointed side were soon exposed at the other end, though, and had goalkeeper Diego Benaglio to thank for keeping out a fierce near-post strike from Jonathan Schmid. However, the Swiss stopper could do nothing to prevent Freiburg taking a 39th-minute lead, after Naldo felled Erik Jendrisek inside the box allowing Daniel Caligiuri to tuck away the ensuing spot-kick.
Final role of the dice
Die Breisgauer picked up where they left off following the restart, with Benaglio pulling off a fine save to deny Caligiuri his and Freiburg's second of the afternoon. Witnessing his side chasing shadows, Magath responded in a bid to stifle the visitors' growing confidence, but the changes appeared to have the opposite effect as Freiburg's Schmid tickled the crossbar. The introduction of Srdjan Lakic left Wolfsburg extremely exposed and when Julian Schuster duly slid home to double his side's lead six minutes from time the game was put beyond the Wolves, who are now left propping up the rest of the Bundesliga.
Want more Bundesliga Action?