Looking Around the League: Bayern Drop Points, and Union Berlin Curbstomp Schalke

The universe must have heard our complaints last weekend. We’ve arrived at that time of year when Bayern Munich randomly drops points to Borussia Mönchengladbach and suddenly everyone pretends that the Bundesliga is a perfectly competitive league again. After taking a 1-0 lead Gladbach held on for dear life, and despite surrendering an equalizer to Leroy Sané, managed to see out the match and escape with a draw.

Elsewhere, there was a wild match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen, while Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig finally got their first wins.

Results

SC Freiburg 1-0 VfL Bochum

Mainz 05 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen

RB Leipzig 2-0 VfL Wolfsburg

TSG Hoffenheim 1-0 Augsburg

Schalke 1-6 Union Berlin

Hertha Berlin 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

FC Köln 0-0 VfB Stuttgart

Werder Bremen 3-4 Eintracht Frankfurt

Live Table

Yann Sommer Stands on His Head

I don’t know what deal Die Fohlen made with the devil that allows them to play so well against Bayern Munich when every other team in the league struggles, but whatever it is, my suspicion is it involves Yann Sommer. Sommer has declined overall in the Bundesliga over the last few years, but he always manages to stand on his head against the Bavarians, and he did so again against Bayern on Saturday. The Swiss stopper made a staggering 19 saves, giving up only one goal on 4.3 post-shot expected goals. It was one of the greatest goalkeeping performances I’ve ever witnessed.

Speaking of absurd xG oddities, Schalke was on the receiving end of one of the funniest stat lines I’ve ever seen. Despite out xG-ing Union Berlin by about 1.8-1.3, Schalke managed to lose 6-1. Union now shares the top of the table with Bayern:

Your Thoughts

How does Gladbach always manage to beat, or at least overperform, against Bayern Munich when every other club in the Bundesliga struggles to do so?