Bundesliga Top Five, Round 12: Class Casteels, Sancho saves Dortmund
Wolfsburg's woeful run of domestic form ended after they defeated Frankfurt 2-0 on Saturday, with Casteels' superb performance in goal key to their clean sheet and subsequent victory. He made a huge eight saves on the day, frustrating the hosts who fired 17 shots on goal, including two stops at vital times at the beginning and end to deny Goncalo Paciencia's header and Erik Durm's strike from inside the box. As well as those aforementioned eight saves, he also made 16 interceptions on crosses into the box.
After two losses on the bounce, Mainz got back to winning ways with a hugely impressive 5-1 away victory at Hoffenheim, with Kunde the star of the show on the day. The Cameroonian scored two, with them nearly identical after both coming from late, bursting runs beyond the opposition defence. The first came just after the hour mark and was finished with a stab beyond the keeper, while the second was more accomplished - a lashed strike across into the bottom corner. He was box-to-box all game, though, as he made eight ball recoveries and four clearances to help out defensively.
Even though a 3-3 draw at home to Paderborn is far from ideal for Dortmund, it could have been so much worse if not for Sancho dragging them back into contention after going 3-0 down at the Westfalenstadion. Just after the third was conceded, the Englishman pulled one back for the hosts with an accomplished finish into the bottom left corner. Then, with time running out at 3-2 Paderborn, he controlled the ball effortlessly out of the air onto his chest before dinking a perfect cross into the box for Reus to head home, earning the 3-3 draw. He completed three dribbles, won 100% of his tackles, and made three ball recoveries and interceptions, too.
Augsburg beat Hertha 4-0 to put potentially vital ground between themselves and the Bundesliga relegation zone, with Khedira putting in a commanding midfield performance to see his side to victory. His combative nature in the middle drove his team-mates forward, as he won 11/15 duels, 7/9 tackles, and made five ball recoveries. Indeed, it was through one of these tackles in the Hertha half that earned him an assist as Andre Hahn ran through to score the third,=.
WIth Gladbach surprisingly losing to Union Berlin, RB Leizpig's 4-1 victory over Koln means that the gap at the top of the table is down to just one point. Forsberg was key to RBL's win as he scored two - one from the penalty spot and another from a free-kick beautifully curled into the top left corner from 25 yards. He probably should have gained an assist, too, as he sent seven successful crosses into the box as well as 33 passes into the final third, which was only bettered this Bundesliga weekend by Raphael Guerreiro of Dortmund who made 35.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Freiburg retained their top-four spot in the German top-flight after a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at Leverkusen. They have goalkeeper Mark Flekken (8.6) to thank as he made an incredible nine saves during the game to frustrate the hosts.
ROUND TO FORGET
Although not helped at all by his defenders, Dusseldorf goalkeeper Zack Steffen (4.3) conceded four goals against Bayern and only managed to make one save the entire game.