Sunday afternoon saw Bayern Munich move two points ahead of the chasing pack with their fifth victory on the trot. Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, a brilliant win for Cologne at Leverkusen earns three of their players a slot in this week’s All Star XI. Hoffenheim grabbed their fourth win from five to climb into the top four, while champions Dortmund continued their patchy start to their title defence, slipping to defeat at the hands of Hannover 96. Here’s a look at some of the stand-out performers from the gameweek just gone by:
Christian Lell, Hertha Berlin. WhoScored rating 7.77
The right-back played a crucial role in extending Hertha’s unbeaten run to five games. Lell’s 46th minute goal helped his side on their way to a 2-2 home draw with Augsburg, though with just two wins in those five matches, Hertha sit in tenth place with just nine points so far.
A 4-2-3-1 formation allows him to get forward plenty from deep and Lell’s 69 touches were the second highest of the home side- an indication of his game involvement. He played 39 passes with a fantastic 90% accuracy, including 6 long balls, 3 crosses and 2 key passes as Lell was at the heart of much of Hertha’s play going forward.
Defensively, his 5 clearances were more than any team mate and with 3 tackles, 1 interception and 2 successful aerial duels also thrown in, Lell walked away with the man of the match award.
Philipp Wollscheid, Nurnberg. WhoScored rating 8.06
The centre half turned in a man of the match performance as Nurnberg stopped Werder Bremen’s run of three straight wins. With Bremen keeper Tim Wiese sent off after just seventeen minutes, Nurnberg dominated the match, with 71% possession, and Wollscheid saw more of the ball than any player- he had 120 touches and made 94 passes with an impressive 89% accuracy. He also delivered 33 long balls from deep, with 31 accurate.
He broke up the visitors play time and again with 4 interceptions –the best tally of the home side- and made 2 tackles and 2 clearances to limit Bremen to just 2 shots over the course of the game. Having fallen behind to Mehmet Ekici’s first half goal, Wollscheid also scored his side’s all-important equalizer after 62 minutes with his only effort on goal during the game.
Lukas Podolski, Cologne. WhoScored rating 9.47
Playing in the hole behind a lone striker, Podolski was Cologne’s main goal hero in the win at Leverkusen. Firing off 3 of his side’s 7 shots, he scored with the 2 he had on target, helping his side to rush into a three-goal lead before the hour-mark.
Pulling the strings in a surprise victory, Podolski saw more of the ball than any Cologne outfield player, with a total of 51 touches, and played 31 passes with a 77% accuracy. He also managed 2 successful dribbles and played his part defensively, with 1 tackle and 1 interception, as Cologne picked up their second win of the season to move clear of the bottom three.
Roberto Firmino, Hoffenheim. WhoScored rating 9.41
The teenager continued his sensational start to the season as he spearheaded Hoffenheim’s 3-1 home win over Wolfsburg. Playing behind a front two in an unusual 4-2-2-2 formation, Firmino was his side’s major goal threat, with 3 shots producing 2 goals from 3 on target, as Hoffenheim climbed into fourth.
He had 69 touches and was joint-top creator for the victors, producing 2 key passes from a total of 40 before being withdrawn in the 86th minute. Firmino’s distribution was impressive, with an 83% accuracy, and drifting out wide he caused Wolfsburg plenty of problems, delivering 3 crosses and making a fantastic 5 successful dribbles, the most of any player on the pitch.
Firmino also demonstrated a solid work rate- his 3 tackles was third best of any team mate- and helped assure him of the WhoScored man of the match award for a near faultless performance.
Milivoje Novakovic, Cologne. WhoScored rating 9.9
The forward had a hand in all four of his side’s goals in an away win at Leverkusen. Playing as a lone frontman in Cologne’s 4-4-1-1, it was a day where everything Novakovic tried came off- he scored 1 goal from just 1 shot and his 3 key passes brought 3 assists, thanks to some clinical finishing from team mates.
The result was more than unfair on the home side- Leverkusen had 66% possession and fired off 15 shots to Cologne’s 7, but the visitors walked away with a 4-1 victory. Novakovic had just 36 touches –keeper Michael Rensing (58) had the most for Cologne, an example of their hosts’ dominance- and he made 28 passes, including 4 long balls, with a total 75% accuracy.
Novakovic also won 3 aerial duels and made 1 successful dribble and there was little surprise he picked up the man of the match award for his critical contribution.
