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Bayer Leverkusen seized the top spot in the Bundesliga, edging one point ahead with a commanding 3-0 victory over a struggling Mainz side. However, Bayern Munich has a chance to reclaim the pole position later this Saturday.
Leverkusen, who only surrendered points in the league this season during a thrilling 2-2 draw against Bayern, seized the lead after just 18 minutes. Wing-back Jeremie Frimpong applied pressure, ultimately prompting Mainz defender Sepp van den Berg to net an unfortunate own goal.
The maestro of set-pieces, Alejandro Grimaldo, extended Leverkusen’s lead with a precision free-kick, while German winger Jonas Hofmann added a third to seal the convincing victory.
Hofmann, who moved to Leverkusen in the summer having spent seven years at Borussia Moenchengladbach, now has three league goals and three assists in the Bundesliga for his new club.
“It’s a lot of fun. Everyone pats you on the shoulder and tells you how nice the football looks,” said Hofmann.
Hofmann celebrated his team’s “exceptional potential” following Leverkusen’s historic start to the league season, but also emphasized the importance of maintaining humility.
On the other hand, Mainz finds themselves at the bottom of the table with only one point after six matches.
Union Berlin’s disappointing season start persisted as they suffered a 1-0 defeat on the road against newly promoted Heidenheim, courtesy of a second-half strike by Jan-Niklas Beste.
Beste’s free-kick found its way into the net during the second half, extending Union’s woes as they suffered their fifth consecutive defeat across all competitions for the first time since 2004, despite their participation in the Champions League.
Stuttgart, the unexpected success story of this season, secured a 2-0 victory against Cologne, courtesy of a double by Deniz Undav.
Stuttgart, who had to win a relegation playoff against Hamburg to maintain their top division status last season, currently sits in second place after six matches.
Notably, this game marked the first instance this season where striker Serhou Guirassy, who had an impressive tally of 10 goals from five league matches leading up to this fixture, failed to find the back of the net.
Wolfsburg striker Jonas Wind, one of this season’s early top scorers, continued his impressive goal-scoring form by netting twice, leading his team to a 2-0 home victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Wind has now contributed seven out of his team’s nine goals in the Bundesliga this season.
In another match, Alassane Plea scored twice to secure Borussia Mönchengladbach’s first win of the season, a convincing 3-1 triumph on the road against Bochum.
Florian Neuhaus opened the scoring for the visitors, and Plea added two more goals by halftime.
Bochum’s Anthony Losilla managed to pull one goal back in the second half, and an injury-time effort was ruled out as Borussia Mönchengladbach held on for the win.
In the late Saturday game, Bayern Munich has the opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the table with a victory over RB Leipzig.
