No one should be under any illusion now that Mainz are worthy of their place at the top of the table. Coach Thomas Tuchel has all his plates spinning at the same time and there is simply no arguement against five consecutive wins.The most recent was against a Koln side who are setting themselves up to be a tough team to beat. It took a while but the breakthrough came after 72 minutes when Lewis Holtby met a free kick from Christian Fuchs with his head to put the Carnival Club 1-0 up. He doubled his tally at the death to seal the points and keep his team at the top of the Bundesliga table.
It's worth stressing that Mainz are not a typical small club punching above it's weight by using rough housing or long balls. Tuchel's players are comfortable with the ball and zip it around nicely on the deck. (Although Holtby's second had a distinct whiff of route one about it)
Of course, something has to give and that may happen at Bayern Munich on Saturday. For now though, Mainz are shaping up to be the feel good story of the season.
Speaking of FC Bayern, the champions registered their second win of the season thanks to a late winner from Daniel van Buyten against Hoffenheim. Vedad Ibisevic put the home side ahead in the first minute after finding himself in the Bayern penalty area with the ball at his feet and not a soul around him. Thomas Muller equalised after capitalising on a great run and shot by Franck Ribery (who sustained an injury during that move and is out for a while).
Finally off the mark are Schalke. According to reports on Twitter they weren't that much cop at Freiburg on Wednesday but hey. A win is a win and they is what they have. Ivan Rakitic and Klaas Jan Huntelaar eased the pressure somewhat.
Elsewhere, (Steve Mc
Claren's) Wolfsburg are definitely off and running after their second straight win. This was an impressive victory against a very good Hamburg team. Grafite is back up front with Edin Dzeko and die Wolfe are making out like its 2008 again. Only Diego is in for Misimovic. 3-1 was the final score. Bayer Leverkusen came out on top against Eintracht Frankfurt, 2-1. Stuttgart found Nurnberg too tough to handle and lost again, 2-1. St Pauli seem to have more joy away from the Millerntor. They beat Borussia Monchengladbach (another 2-1). And what the hell is going of at Werder Bremen? 4-1 losers to Hannover!Finally, if it weren't for Mainz, surely the story of the season so for would be the rise of Borussia Dortmund. 5-0 winners over Kaiserslautern with goals from Lucas Barrios (2), Matts Hummels, Kevin Großkreutz and Robert Lewandowski who has officially found his shooting boots. They're always in the last place you look.
That's it. Results and tables here.
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