Dortmund continued its perfect start to the season, defeating Paderborn 3-0 and reaching a perfect 3-0 record. The stars of the show were Fabio Silva and Enmecha, with the latter scoring two goals, while Karetsas watched the match from the stands, returning to the team after his Champions League adventure.
The visitors threatened first in the 4th minute, but Dortmund responded immediately: Girassi played a perfect pass to Silva, who broke into open space, evaded Noll, and slotted it home for a 1-0 lead. Paderborn had their moments, but Noll kept his team in the game on several occasions, while Dortmund saw two goals by Girassi disallowed for offside before halftime.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In the second half, the Westphalians increased the pressure. Nuani threatened in the 59th minute, Bellingham had a header off a corner, and Girassi once again saw Nol deny him in the 62nd minute. The breakthrough came in the 80th minute: Enmeça combined with Zabitzer, made an excellent dribble, and slotted the ball home for a 2-0 lead. Shortly afterward, Zabitzer hit the crossbar, before Enmetza capped off his personal showcase with a spectacular scissor kick in the 89th minute to seal the 3-0 victory.
Karetsas, who had to leave the field injured during his Champions League debut and was taken to the hospital for tests, is now back with the team and watched the victory over Paderborn up close —a positive development following the concern of the previous days.
Beyond that, Hoffenheim showed signs of a comeback a few days before traveling to Heraklion to face OFI in the Europa League group stage, as they defeated Stuttgart 2-1 and recorded their first victory in this year’s Bundesliga. With Hlozek finding the back of the net in the 13th and 67th minutes, Christian Ilzer’s team secured the result it had been seeking after a mediocre start to the season. The Austrian coach lined up Hoffenheim in a 4-1-4-1 formation, starting Baumann, Tsufal, Kampak, Haidari, Roč, Abdulahou, Conte, Hlozek, Berger, Dagić, and Leberle, while in the second half he refreshed the lineup with Gedrey, Matšida, Vimer, Kramarić, and Aslani.
At the same time, Eintracht put on a show of strength in Mainz, coming away with a comfortable 3-1 victory. Uzun scored twice, Burkard added another goal, but the real star of the show was goalkeeper Noah Atumbolu. The young goalkeeper saved Amiri’s penalty in the 31st minute, bringing his streak of consecutive penalty saves to six and making Bundesliga history.
*photo source: AP
