Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 5:22 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 17:26

The first defeat of VfL Wolfsburg under Mark van Bommel in the Bundesliga is a fact. Six days after the first misstep, a 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Dutchman’s team lost against TSG Hoffenheim: 3-1. Due to the defeat, Wolfsburg remains on thirteen points from six matches. That is three fewer than Bayern Munich, which won 1-3 at Greuther Fürth on Friday evening. RB Leipzig worked on their confidence on Saturday by beating Hertha BSC 6-0 after just a meager point from their last three games.

TSG Hoffenheim – VfL Wolfsburg 3-1
The teams of Sebastien Hoeness and Van Bommel went into halftime with a score of 1-1 and that was a hard blow for the visitors. Wolfsburg took the lead after 25 minutes and that was certainly not undeserved against a home team that posed little danger. After a mistake by David Raum, Maximilian Philipp played it quickly and delivered the ball to the left to Ridle Baku, who aimed the ball with his right from about twenty yards into the far corner behind goalkeeper Oliver Baumann.

Baku’s direct hit also seemed to be the halftime score, but Wolfsburg had to deal with a damper at a psychological moment: the extra time of the first half. After a corner from Raum from the left, Andrej Kramaric headed in his first goal of the season, despite a last effort from goalkeeper Koen Casteels. In the second half, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg, with Wout Weghorst in the base, were evenly matched, partly because both sides lacked decisiveness and precision in the game.

Hoffenheim came out of nowhere at 2-1 seventeen minutes before the end. After a wonderful pass from Florian Grillitsch, Pavel Kaderabek steamed up on the right side of the box and put it back well on Christoph Baumgartner, who worked the ball low into the left corner behind Casteels. Van Bommel brought in Luca Waldschmidt and Lukas Nmecha hoping to avoid a defeat, but it was Hoffenheim that scored a third time. Nine minutes before the end, Kaderabek scored a free kick from Raum from close range: 3-1.

RB Leipzig – Hertha Berlin 6-0
The meeting with Hertha promised in advance to be a pleasant affair for Leipzig, as the Berliners in the Bundesliga are the favorite opponent for Jesse Marsch’s team (8 victories, 25 points). The score was opened after fifteen minutes by Christopher Nkunku, who had a free passage after a nice transfer by Yussuf Poulsen. Leipzig had nothing to fear from Hertha, where Jurgen Ekkelenkamp and Deyovaisio Zeefuik were in the starting line-up, and doubled the score halfway through the first half via Poulsen, who had the ball before tapping on a pass from Nkunku. After Lukas Klostermann saw the third goal disallowed for offside ten minutes later, Nordi Mukiele was accurate after an assist from Angeliño: 3-0.

Leipzig also remained the dominant party in the second company and Emil Forsberg lifted the margin to four from the penalty spot after an hour of play. Niklas Stark made a mistake prior to the hit. Marsch then brought in Brian Brobbey, among others, and saw how his team further expanded the score in the final phase. The fifth flew brilliantly into the top right corner from a free kick by Nkunku, after which the final chord came from the foot of Amadou Haidara. The midfielder received the ball on the edge of Brobbey’s box, made room to shoot and found the left corner: 6-0.