Jordan Pefok returned to his goal-scoring ways for Union Berlin as they beat RB Leipzig while Giovanni Reyna made his return to action for Borussia Dortmund as they collapsed in a loss to Werder Bremen.
Union Berlin 2-1 RB Leipzig
Union Berlin continued their fine start to the Bundesliga season as they were able to hold on for the win against struggling RB Leipzig at the An der Alten Forsterei Stadium.
Jordan Pefok was the top man on the day as he won seven duels on top of taking three shots in his 62 minutes on the field.
After seeing their top striker Taiwo Awoniyi leave for Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League, expectations have been high on the French-raised American to replicate the goal-scoring form of his predecessor. So far, he has not disappointed and showed he might well be an upgrade.
The new signing went on to score his second league goal of the season in the 32nd minute. The hosts caught Leipzig on the counterattack as Pefok’s frontline partner Sheraldo Becker played the ball into his path and he did not disappoint with a strike that rolled past goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.
Union hit their opponents with another counter six minutes later. Pefok was able to send the ball out wide to the right to Becker and the Surinamese international did the rest as he swept the ball to his left foot to curl it past Blaswich.
The tandem came close to making it 3-0 near the hour mark when Becker sent a low cross towards the center, but Pefok could not steer the ball on the target.
The hosts did well to hold on to their lead, but Leipzig finally cut the deficit in the 83rd minute when Willi Orban rose up to head the ball into the goal.
The visitors pushed for the equalizer, but it would not come as Union Berlin continued their fine start to the Bundesliga campaign.
The win put Union Berlin in third place in the standings on seven points.
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Werder Bremen
It was both a memorable and humiliating day for Borussia Dortmund as Giovanni Reyna made his return to the team from injury to only see them surrender their lead and fall to Werder Bremen at Signal Iduna Park.
Reyna would come on to play 28 minutes in his return to the first team following a hamstring injury he suffered last season.
After a first half with few chances, the hosts opened the scoring just before the break. Julian Brandt would cut in from the right side of the field and fire a shot on the edge of the area past goalkeeper Jii Pavlenka.
BVB doubled their lead in the 77th minute when Marco Reus teed up his teammate Raphael Guerreiro to take a long-range strike that should not have had the chance to go in.
The hosts should have been on their way to victory, but they would surprisingly collapse in the late stages of the game to give the three point to Werder Bremen.
Lee Buchanan cut the deficit in the 89th minute. The Englishman’s strike with the outside of his foot ended the shutout, but more was to come. Niklas Schmidt leveled the score in the third minute of stoppage time when connect on a cross from Amos Pieper to head the ball home.
The comeback for the visitors was completed in the final minute of the game when Mitchell Weiser played the ball to Oliver Burke and the Scotsman made BVB pay for their defensive lapses by nailing the game-winner.
The loss puts Borussia Dortmund in seventh place on six points.
Notes
In other action from the Bundesliga, Joe Scally played the full 90 for Borussia Monchengladbach in their 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin.
Kevin Paredes came on to play 15 minutes for Wolfsburg as they settled for a 0-0 draw with Schalke.
Ricardo Pepi played 22 minutes as Augsburg conceded a stoppage-time goal in their 2-1 defeat to Mainz.
Timothy Chandler was a spectator on the bench as Eintracht Frankfurt shared the spoils with FC Cologne following a 1-1 draw.
In the 2. Bundesliga, Timothy Tillman started while Julian Green came off the bench for Greuther Furth while Terrence Boyd played 74 minutes for Kaiserslautern as the Red Devils came away with the 3-1 win over the Cloverleaves.
Ryan Mwas spectatalone went the distance as Hansa Rostock blanked St. Pauli in a 2-0 win.
Lennard Maloney played the entire game while George Bello saw no action as Heidenheim and Arminia Bielefeld played out a 1-1 draw.
Down in the 3. Liga, Isaiah Young started and assisted on a goal while Jalen Hawkins played 90 minutes and change, and Jerome Butler came off the bench as Rot-Weiss Essen and Ingolstadt shared the points following a 2-2 draw.
There were no heroics from Mael Corboz this time as Verl went down to Oldenburg in a 1-0 loss.
