Brendan Aaronson started again for Union Berlin, but he would only play 20 minutes as he was sent for an early shower in the team’s big win over Darmstadt. Meanwhile, John Brooks and Hoffenheim scored a huge comeback win over Lennard Maloney and Heidenheim.
Darmstadt 1-4 Union Berlin
The capital team had to play the majority of the contest with 10 men, but it didn’t matter as they hit three first-half goals to come away with a comfortable win over Bundesliga newbies Darmstadt at Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor.
Brenden Aaronson was forced to watch the rest of the game from the dressing room after playing 21 minutes. Meanwhile, Jordan Pefok saw his first action for Die Eisernen as he played the final 26 minutes.
The visitors got off to a fantastic start when they opened the scoring after four minutes. Darmstadt did poorly to clear the ball from their end, allowing Robin Gosens to pounce and fire his shot past goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow at the edge of the box.
Immediately after the goal, Aaronson would receive his first yellow card in the fifth minute for time wasting even though the referee had stopped play for a free-kick. The midfielder would then get his marching orders in the 21st minute when he was shown a second yellow following a high tackle on Darmstadt’s Fabian Nurnberger.
This gave the hosts a slight advantage and they took advantage of it in the 24th minute when a long pass from the back was deflected by a Union defender and ended in the path of Marvin Mehlem to level the score.
However, Union was not affected by losing a man as they retook the lead 10 minutes later with Gosens scoring his second on the day by heading in Josip Juranovic’s free-kick. Kevin Behrens added a third in the 39th minute when he was on the spot to head in the loose ball from a corner kick.
Set pieces were the key for the visitors in this game and they hit Darmstadt with another in the second half to ensure they would take all three points back to Berlin. Danilho Doekhi would rise up to head in Juranovic’s corner kick in the 65th minute.
Despite the early setback, Union showed their mettle as they currently sit atop the Bundesliga standings after two games.
Heidenheim 2-3 Hoffenheim
Heidenheim had an excellent chance to capture their first-ever win in the Bundesliga, but collapsed in the latter stages of the game to give Hoffenheim their first three points of the early season at the Voith Arena.
John Brooks started at the center of a back-three formation for Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side, completing 82 percent of his passes and winning five duels in 53 minutes of action. On the other side, Lennard Maloney went the distance for Heidenheim, completing 58 percent of his passes and winning two duels.
The hosts had a chance to open the scoring in the 14th minute when video replays showed Hoffenheim’s Marius Bulter handled the ball in the area following a free-kick. Jan Beste stepped up to take the spot-kick, but it was saved by Oliver Baumann.
Beste would make up for his penalty miss in the 26th minute as he was able to put away a left-footed free-kick from a nearly impossible angle to send the fans into pandemonium.
Heidenheim kept the momentum going in the second half as they scored from another set piece. Marvin Pieringer would get on the scoresheet this time as he headed a Beste corner kick.
It’s always been said that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous scoreline to have in this sport and Hoffenheim proved the hypothesis right as they fought their way back to steal the win.
Maximilian Beier reduced the deficit for the visitors in the 77th minute when he was left unmarked to volley in a goal from Tom Bischof’s free-kick. Pavel Kaderabek leveled the score three minutes later after Andrej Kramaric’s shot came crashing off the frame of the goal, leaving the Czech midfielder the opportunity to pounce on the loose ball to tap home.
Hoffenheim then received a gift from the video assistant referee in the dying minutes of the game when it was determined that Beier was brought down in the box, leaving the referee no choice but to award a penalty. Kramaric put away the spot-kick to end the thrilling game on a high note for the visitors.
A morale-boosting win for the Blues, while Heidenheim will have to wait another week to try and claim their first points in the top flight.
Notes
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Joe Scally played 90 for Borussia Monchengladbach as they were beaten 3-0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
Kevin Paredes did not come off the bench for Wolfsburg as they made it two wins out of two with a 2-1 victory over FC Cologne.
In the 2. Bundesliga, both Julian Green and Maximilian Dietz went the distance for Greuther Furth as they were on the wrong end of a 5-0 drubbing by Hertha Berlin.
Johan Gomez played 71 minutes for 10-man Eintracht Braunschweig in their 2-0 loss to Karlsruhe.
Terrence Boyd came on to play the final 19 minutes for Kaiserslautern as they held on for the 2-1 win over Paderborn.
Down in the 3. Liga, Ryan Malone played the full 90 for Ingolstadt and got a yellow card as they shared the points with Saarbrucken following a 2-2 draw.
Mael Corboz and Verl got their first three points of the season following a 3-2 win over Freiburg II.
Isaiah Young and Rot-Weiss Essen scored a stoppage-time goal to come away with all three points in their 1-0 win over Andrew Wooten and Preussen Munster.
Justin Butler played the first half as Borussia Dortmund II had no answers in their 2-0 defeat to Dynamo Dresden.
Joseph Richardson saw no action for Sandhausen in their 3-0 win over 1860 Munich.
Jalen Hawkins was a spectator on the bench as Waldhof Mannheim secured a 3-2 victory over Hallescher FC.
Santiago Castaneda remained on the bench for Duisburg as they could only muster up a 1-1 draw with Ulm.
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