Bundesliga Review 2 of 34: 32 Goals but a Coutinho Ain’t One

Bayern return to winning ways; Dortmund continues to march on; Timo Werner resigns with Leipzig. It was another action-packed weekend in the Bundesliga.

Philippe Coutinho made his Bayern Munich debut as the reigning champions romped into normal overbearing nature as they faced Schalke and came through with a 3-0 victory.

Robert Lewandowski banged in a hat trick as Munich ran over Schalke. For Bayern, it was a return to normal form but more importantly was the debut of star signing Philippe Coutinho. A price of €8.5 million euros for a year on loan with a buyout clause brought the Brazilian to the Bundesliga. Questions still abound as to what to expect over the course of the season.

Borussia Dortmund kept top of hill by beating a plucky FC Koln side that took an early lead. More pointedly, Koln looked a side that will fight until the end and Dortmund looked a title contender.

With a boisterous crowd behind them for the home opener, FC Koln took a first half lead by Dominick Draxler. Like the previous match, Dortmund put the foot down on the throttle in the second half. Goals by Jadon Sancho, Achraf Hakimi, and Paco Alcacer turned an unpleasant meeting into a wonderful night out as leaders in the Bundesliga table.

RB Leipzig is focused on making the title a three-team race and against strong opposition in Eintracht Frankfurt as they celebrated resigning Timo Werner to a new contract with 2-1 win.

Werner, the German international, opened the match with a goal on the volley that showed the extreme talent that was just re-signed. A second half goal of greater skill came from Yussuf Poulsen that turned out to be a match winner as late on Paciencia pulled one back for Eintracht.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

After a first match loss in Frankfurt, Hoffenheim got a late winner courtesy of Pavel Kaderabek as TSG won 3-2 over Werder Bremen.

In the local Rhine derby, Leverkusen comfortably pulled off a 3-1 win that was only made close by Dusseldorf late in the second half to show who would have bragging rights come Monday.

SC Freiburg continued their strong start to the season with a 3-1 victory over newly-promoted Paderborn who slumped to a second defeat.

Union Berlin surprised many by their resiliency going down to hold onto a 1-1 draw, their first point and more importantly a point on the road in Augsburg.

Borussia Monchengladbach forgot all about their first match draw as they came from behind to win 3-1 in Mainz.

Wolfsburg continued their perfect start to their Bundesliga season with a convincing 3-0 victory away to Hertha Berlin.

Player of the Week:  Hard to overlook a vintage Robert Lewandowski who scored a hat trick.

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