Baumann blunders help Hamburg

The Europa League hangover proved impossible for both Freiburg and Frankfurt to overcome, with the two clubs having had continental commitments on Thursday.

Both began their respective Bundesliga matches on Sunday in energetic fashion, but both were to tire and end their evenings with disappointing losses.

Freiburg met a Hamburg outfit out to continue their recovery under Bert van Marwijk, and both sides traded a host of chances in the first half an hour.

It became more and more likely that a piece of brilliance or buffoonery was going to be needed for the deadlock to break. It was the latter, and it came courtesy of Freiburg captain Baumann.

There did not seem a lot of threat to Milan Badelj's lofted ball on 37 minutes, but Baumann handed Maximilian Beister a simple finish by inexplicably coming outside the area and then failing to clear.

If that was mad enough, that Baumann made the exact same mistake for Hamburg's second goal was just plain crazy. This time, just two minutes into the second half, it was Pierre-Michel Lasogga who benefited from the nomadic goalkeeper.

Baumann came outside his area to clear but could not do that, and nor could he take possession when he backpedalled into safer territory. A slip to allow Lasogga to tap home was the final ignominy for the crestfallen shot-stopper.

But bad luck is said to come in threes, and another Baumann error - this time fumbling Beister's bobbling shot - allowed Rafael van der Vaart to pounce and make it 3-0 for the visitors just after the hour mark.

Baumann had made a series of sound stops before letting the first goal in, only serving to demonstrate the fine line goalkeepers forever walk.

Freiburg battled forlornly to pull a goal back in the game’s latter stages, but the damage had been done and they remain firmly in the relegation zone. Hamburg, meanwhile, moved into 12th.

Home comforts continue for the Foals

In Mönchengladbach, the hosts saw off Frankfurt to run out 4-1 winners, with the pick of the action coming in seven first-half minutes.

Teeming rain ensured some quick early play, but it was from a dead ball that Mönchengladbach took the lead. Juan Arango was the scorer, sending a superb free-kick up and over the wall to beat Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.

The away side hit back four minutes later when Stefan Aigner poked home after some neat footwork from Alexander Meier, but Mönchengladbach retook the lead in the 18th minute when Ozcar Wendt beat Trapp with a fine driven finish.

The second half failed to live up to the quality of the first, but Mönchengladbach were still able to extend their lead through Patrick Herrmann and then Raffael as Frankfurt faded badly.

It was Mönchengladbach’s fifth home win from five matches this season, with Lucien Favre plundering 17 goals on familiar turf in the process.

The win propelled Gladbach to fourth in the table, while Frankfurt slipped to 14th.