Brenden Aaronson and Union Berlin kicked off the opening day of the Bundesliga in impressive fashion in their win over Mainz. Meanwhile, Joe Scally was involved in an eight-goal thriller with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Union Berlin 4-1 Mainz
The capital team wanted to show that last season’s top-four finish was not a fluke as they decimated Mainz at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei.
Brenden Aaronson was given the start for Die Eisernen, completing 65 percent of his passes, winning two duels, and making two tackles in 76 minutes of action. Jordan Pefok was on the team but did not play.
The hosts hit Mainz just seconds into the start of the game when Aaronson released Jerom Roussillon down the left wing to put across into the box and Kevin Behrens finished it off with a deft header past Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner. The German forward was at it again eight minutes later as he headed in another ball, this time from Aissa Ladouni.
The visitors were left shellshocked, but they were able to cut the deficit in the 64th minute. Anthony Caci put a spectacular volley in the back of the net.
However, Mainz had no way to stop Behrens as he completed his hat trick in the 70th minute, and it was a repeat of the previous of two goals. A cross into the box, this time from Sheraldo Becker, and a header to complete the play.
Milos Pantovic came off the bench to grab Union’s fourth goal in stoppage time.
A perfect start to the season and the fans can only hope more of the same will come throughout the campaign.
Augsburg 4-4 Borussia Monchengladbach
Both teams provided the game of round one in the Bundesliga as they combined for an eight-goal thriller to share the points at WWK Arena.
Joe Scally started and went the distance for the Foals, completing 72 percent of his passes, winning four duels, and making two tackles.
Ko Itakura opened the scoring for the visitors in the 13th minute as he rose up the head in a corner kick from teammate Franck Honorat. Tomas Cvancara doubled their lead in the 27th minute when Augsburg gave away the ball in their own end, allowing Julian Weigl to play it to the Czech striker and he blasted his shot past goalkeeper Finn Dahmen.
The hosts pulled one bank just before the half-hour mark as Elvis Rexhbecaj struck from distance.
‘Gladbach restored their two-goal lead in the 37th minute through Nathan Ngoumou when ran onto a long kick from the back by Jonas Omlin, sped away from his marker, and slotted it home. Augsburg then went back the other way to score two more before halftime to level through Maximilian Bauer and Sven Michel.
The first half left everyone in an excited mood and the second half would provide a dramatic end to proceedings on the day.
Augsburg took the lead in the 76th minute when Ruben Vargas was teed up by Philip Tietz to fire his shot from the right side of the box to the far post of the keeper.
With the game deep in stoppage time, the hosts thought they were on the way to a win when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty. Vargas was the guilty party as he took the legs from out under Yvandro Borges-Sanches. Cvancara stepped up to put away the spot-kick and help the Foals steal a point.
Notes
Going around the Bundesliga, Kevin Paredes came on to play in stoppage time for Wolfsburg while Lennard Maloney went 84 minutes for newbies Heidenheim as the Wolves came away with a 2-0 win.
John Brooks started and played the full 90 for Hoffenheim as they started the new season with a 2-1 loss to Freiburg.
In the 2. Bundesliga, Johan Gomez played 73 minutes as Eintracht Braunschweig held on for the 1-0 win over Schalke.
Terrence Boyd played 56 minutes for Kaiserslautern as they came from behind to secure a 3-2 win over Elversberg.
Both Julian Green and Maximilian Dietz started and went the distance for Greuther Further in their 0-0 draw with St. Pauli.
Down in the 3. Liga, Jalen Hawkins started and scored a goal for Waldhof Mannheim in their 2-2 draw with Lubeck.
Ryan Malone started and played 89 minutes for Ingolstadt in their 4-0 win over Hallescher.
Isaiah Young went on to play 86 minutes for Rot-Weiss Essen as they shared the points with Erzgebirge Aue following a 1-1 draw.
Mael Corboz started for Verl in their narrow 2-1 defeat to Jahn Regensburg.
Justin Butler came on to play 13 minutes for Borussia Dortmund II in their 1-0 win over Freiburg II.
Andrew Wooten played 19 minutes for Preussen Munster as they were thrashed 4-0 by Arminia Bielefeld.
Joseph Richardson watched on from the bench for Sandhausen in their 1-0 win over Dynamo Dresden.
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