Kevin De Bruyne put Wolfsburg ahead in their Lower Saxony derby victory at Hannover 96
Kevin De Bruyne put Wolfsburg ahead in their Lower Saxony derby victory at Hannover 96
Wolfsburg and Augsburg keep rising; draw in Paderborn
Cologne - VfL Wolfsburg and FC Augsburg both sustained their respective charges near the top of the Bundesliga on Matchday 14, while SC Paderborn 07 earned a late draw against SC Freiburg.
Hannover 96 1-3 VfL Wolfsburg
bundesliga.com summarises Saturday's top-flight action...
Wolfsburg kept up the pressure on FC Bayern München at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Hannover 96 in a Lower Saxony derby.
Kevin De Bruyne's second goal of the season gave the Wolves an early lead, but Hannover were rewarded for a strong response with Joselu's equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Ivan Perisic then took charge of matters for Dieter Hecking's men, setting up goals for Bas Dost and Maximilian Arnold to earn the Wolves another three points.
Perisic the architect
The contest started as it meant to go on with Hiroshi Kiyotake scuppering the first chance after only a handful of minutes. At the other end, the Hannover defence failed to clear a long Diego Benaglio clearance which landed at the feet of Ivan Perisic, who headed into De Bruyne's path for the Belgium international to net his second goal of the season. Hannover took a while to recover from the early blow, but they came back strongly, levelling just before half-time when Joselu headed Jimmy Briand's cross into the net.
Benaglio saved well from a Lars Stindl volley before Hecking decided to change his attack, bringing Bas Dost on for Ivica Olic. The move paid off as Dost headed in Perisic's cross for his first goal of the campaign, restoring Wolfsburg's lead which they extended five minutes from time. Perisic was again the architect, sending a ball through for another of Hecking's substitutes, Arnold, to seal victory.
Line-ups and statistics
1. FC Köln 1-2 FC Augsburg
High-flying FC Augsburg extended their winning streak to four thanks to a dramatic late victory away to 1. FC Köln.
Anthony Ujah put Köln in front before break, but goals from Nikola Djurdjic and Alexander Esswein earned the Bavarian visitors a deserved three points at the RheinEnergieStadion.
Augsburg fightback
Boosted by a run of three consecutive wins, Augsburg started the brighter of the two sides, although clear-cut chances were proving difficult to come by for Markus Weinzierl’s men. Köln appeared the more threatening team when going forward, however, and could have taken the lead when Dusan Svento volleyed the ball narrowly over the crossbar. Ujah then did better shortly after, slotting the ball in after skilfully controlling it with his chest to hand the hosts the lead.
Augsburg had enjoyed 72 per cent of the possession before the break, and they eventually managed to make their dominance count in the 53rd minute when Köln custodian Timo Horn failed to clear Halil Altintop's effort, allowing Djurdjic to slot in from close range for his first Bundesliga goal in Augsburg colours. The guests upped the pressure in the hope of a late win, with Tobias Werner twice going close before substitute Esswein’s deflected effort sealed victory for the Fuggerstädter.
Line-ups and statistics
SC Paderborn 1-1 SC Freiburg
Elias Kachunga grabbed a last-gasp equaliser for SC Paderborn at home to SC Freiburg, but on the balance of play a 1-1 draw was the least the East Westphalians deserved on Matchday 14.
A Vladimir Darida penalty gave Christian Streich's men the lead, but Kachunga finally broke Freiburg's resistance in the 89th minute to earn last season's Bundesliga 2 runners-up a share of the spoils.
Bürki under siege
Freiburg made it clear they were going to be hard to beat at the Benteler Arena as they packed men behind the ball and frustrated their hosts from the outset. When they did break, they earned the chance to take the lead as Uwe Hünemeier brought down Felix Klaus inside the penalty area. Darida took the spot-kick and sent Lukas Kruse the wrong way to open the scoring, but after Alban Meha sent in Paderborn's first shot of the game minutes later, the home team began to lay siege to Roman Bürki's goal.
Jens Wemmer and Kachunga both brought fine saves out of Bürki, who was being kept busy by Paderborn's forwards. The Swiss custodian then stopped a free-kick from Mahir Saglik before making his easiest of interventions to prevent a miss-hit shot from Kachunga from trundling in. Kruse made a great save to thwart Admir Mehmedi from finishing his team off on the break, before Kachunga caught Bürki off his line to slot into the unguarded net and salvage a point.
Line-ups and statistics
