Hannover join Bundesliga summit; Augsburg top Eintracht Frankfurt
Hannover 96 rode a fast Sunday evening start to a share of the Bundesliga lead while keeping struggling Hamburg wondering when their fortunes will take a turn for the better.
Hannover's 2-0 win enabled them to join leader Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on seven points with-goal difference favoring Leverkusen after three matches.
Hannover might actually have scored more quickly because Leonardo Bittencourt got clean away from an HSV giveaway in the third minute only to push his shot wide of the right post.
Hamburg had the former Spurs' midfielder Lewis Holtby and American teenager Julian Green, picked up on loan from Bayern Munich, in their starting eleven as they looked for some attacking balance, but there remained little quality service for Pierre-Michel Lasogga. Green did produce one fine cross that Lasogga headed wide in the 16th minute, but he also sometimes surrendered possession too easily against fast-closing defenders. Artjoms Rudnevs replaced him at the interval.
HSV missed a golden chance to get back into things in the 46th minute, but Nicolai Muller failed to convert the opportunity, the same fate which befell Rudnevs in the 66th when Zoltan Stieber's cross found him alone in front of goal. Hannover played out the time effectively without turning the attacking screw. Then Rudnevs finished the frustrating day for HSV by heading off the bat in the 90th minute.
In the afternoon match, FC Augsburg collected its first victory -- and first points -- of the season, climbing off the Bundesliga basement with a 1-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt. Raul Bobadilla, the Argentine striker, scored the only goal in the 49th minute after Halil Altintop knocked a high ball down in the box for the finish. Bobadilla had thought he scored in the first half, but he didn't get the benefit of a very close offside decision.
Eintracht, which had won its home opener against SC Freiburg, did much of the attacking in the first half but Takashi Inui was well beaten by Augsburg keeper Marwin Hitz, who also produced a big save to deny Vaclav Kadlec later in the half.
Frankfurt's main complaint, however, will be with referee Manuel Grafe and his crew who missed Dominik Kohr's shirt-pull on Lucas Piazon which prevented the Eintracht forward from getting to a 15th-minute corner that fell near him in the six yard area. Replays clearly showed the heavy tug, but there was no award.
Although Haris Seferovic had two half-chances for Eintracht after the interval, they simply did not make Hitz work hard enough to deserve a share of the points. And it was Augsburg which should have scored a second, Tobias Werner twice hitting the woodwork with fine shots. He struck the left post from 25 yards in the 80th minute, then chipped a neat attempt off the far post in the 87th.
Six Bundesliga teams begin European play this week.
In the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund hosts Arsenal Tuesday while Bayer Leverkusen goes to Monaco, then Bayern Munich is home to Manchester City and Schalke visits Chelsea on Wednesday. In the Europa League, Borussia Moenchengladbach starts at home to Villarreal on Thursday and VfL Wolfsburg is away to Everton the same evening.
