Freiburg went top, Eugen Polanski lost his job, and Stuttgart's defence keeps faltering. Here are the five big talking points from the Bundesliga weekend.
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Borussia Mönchengladbach's 5-0 defeat in Freiburg cost Eugen Polanski his job on Sunday, but the hosts' perfect start deserves attention too.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart's backline continues to falter in the early stages of the season, Bayern Munich returned to winning ways, and Eintracht Frankfurt finally got their season up and running.
Borussia Dortmund's superb start continued, while RB Leipzig recovered from two damaging defeats.
Looking back at the weekend, here are five things we learned from Matchday 3.
Freiburg heeded their warning
Before kick-off on Saturday, Julian Schuster warned Freiburg not to assume Gladbach's poor start would make it an easy afternoon.
After falling to successive heavy defeats at the start of last term, Schuster knew all too well that a side can respond when they are under pressure, saying: “Why shouldn't it happen to our opponents?”
For a quarter of an hour, that seemed a sensible concern.
Gladbach boss Polanski felt that his side started the better of the two teams, without creating a clear chance. Then Moritz Nicolas failed to claim Derry Scherhant's corner before former Foal Yannik Engelhardt headed Freiburg in front, and Igor Matanovic made it 2-0 six minutes later.
Tim Kleindienst was sent off early in the second half, before Engelhardt and Matanovic scored again and Maximilian Eggestein completed a 5-0 win.
Schuster's side are top after winning six matches in all competitions, and have navigated their three league clashes with just the one goal conceded.
Afterwards, Polanski pointed to another individual error for the opener and admitted Freiburg's second had been far too easy.
He disputed Kleindienst's second booking but would not blame the referee for the result, with his side 2-0 down before the dismissal.
After conceding 12 goals in three league games, Polanski called for “honest conversations”, and by Sunday, the club had parted company with him.
Nusa is adding the output to match the ability
Leipzig had suffered defeats to Werder Bremen and Como in the space of a week before Hamburg made the trip to the Red Bull Arena on Sunday.
Wideman Antonio Nusa would put in a fantastic performance in what would be a 5-0 win, scoring once and setting up two more.
Speaking to Bulinews after the match, the winger said that boss Martin Demichelis had told the players to “look forward”, while still addressing what needed to change.
And of all out there on Sunday, Nusa appeared to take the message on board.
He punished a HSV mistake to make it 2-0, delivered the free-kick for Willi Orban's header and then played Christopher Nkunku through for his first goal since returning to Leipzig.
“Maybe I didn't get the output I deserved last season,” he told Bulinews, after notching five goals and four assists across 35 appearances in all competitions last term.
Now, he has three and two after five competitive outings this term, with Sunday potentially being a significant afternoon for the Norwegian.
Now in his third season at the club, Nusa spoke about taking on more responsibility, with Leipzig needing him to affect scorelines more often.
On Sunday, he most certainly did that.
Atubolu helps Frankfurt avoid an uncomfortable Monday
Adi Hütter's return to Frankfurt began with a draw at Union Berlin and a painful second half against Augsburg.
A trip to Mainz, who had scored five in Hamburg last time out, did not look like an especially kind place to go looking for a first league victory.
But Can Uzun would change the mood after nine minutes, as he finished Jonathan Burkardt's cut-back to put the visitors ahead.
Mainz then had a golden chance to equalise from the spot, but summer signing Noah Atubolu would keep out the ever-experienced Nadiem Amiri, before Burkardt scored against his former club just moments later.
Atubolu's save was his sixth in succession from penalties faced in the Bundesliga, keeping the Eagles in control before eventually going on to claim a 3-1 win.
Afterwards, boss Hütter admitted that defeat would have meant an “absolute false start” and brought far greater pressure, despite Frankfurt showing promising signs across each of the opening three, even in the 4-1 loss to Augsburg.
Looking to carry some form into the international break, Eintracht welcome early pace-setters Freiburg to Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday, where Hütter will be hoping the form of Burkardt and Uzun up top continues, while another showing from his new goalkeeper against his former employers would not be turned down.
Stuttgart's defending undoes the good work again
Stuttgart followed their opening-night 5-1 defeat to Bayern with a 4-1 win against Köln and a Champions League victory over Viking.
However, Saturday's trip to Hoffenheim brought back common concerns from the season's early days, with much of VfB's good work being undone by mistakes at the back.
Bambase Conte won possession for the Sinsheimers before putting Adam Hlozek through for the opener after 13 minutes.
Maximilian Mittelstädt equalised just after the break, but the winner would come from yet another Stuttgart mistake, with Albian Hajdari intercepting a misplaced pass from Dzenan Pejcinovic before Adam Daghim slipped in Hlozek for his second of the afternoon.
The timing was frustrating for Sebastian Hoeneß's men, with Grischa Prömel feeling that the visitors were on top and “on the verge of breaking them”, but had failed to make the spell count.
VfB have now conceded eight in three Bundesliga matches.
Five came against Bayern, and Köln's was an own goal, so the total alone does not tell the full story.
But concerns continue to arise about just how vulnerable they look when teams are able to break on the counter, with Norwegian champions Viking causing severe problems on Wednesday evening.
For all of the control expected of VfB under Hoeneß these days, they have looked increasingly prone to conceding chances in the early stages of this season, with Hoffenheim the fourth side this term to have direct runs at the backline as a result of finding space between the lines.
To make matters worse, both Jeff Chabot and Finn Jeltsch have been caught too high on multiple occasions this term, and the former's lack of pace becomes an issue when it happens.
VfB have started the season with the approach of outscoring the opposition, but the problem is that when this does not come to fruition, goals are leaking in at the other end - seeing Die Schwaben sit on just three points after three games, with a clash against Borussia Dortmund coming on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund continue to tick along
Dortmund have not exactly produced the most riveting football in the early days of the season, but Niko Kovac's side are ticking along very nicely.
BVB pushed Bayern all the way in the Supercup, with the introduction of Gianni Konstantelias that evening sparking serious excitement ahead of the term.
The Greek superstar would be ruled out for large periods of the season after just one weekend of league football, with fears arising over Konstantinos Karetsas a week later too.
But the momentum has not stopped at the Westfalenstadion, with Dortmund dispatching Paderborn 3-0 on Saturday.
The afternoon could have been more comfortable, with Serhou Guirassy having two goals chalked off, while Die Schwarzgelben kept firm control throughout the 90.
Fabio Silva is also proving his worth, notching four goals and one assist across his five appearances in all competitions so far, racing through to score on his first Bundesliga start of the season on Saturday.
Felix Nmecha would round off the afternoon, with his overhead kick in front of the Südtribune attracting attention, while, in honesty, BVB avoided trouble for the majority of the match.
Saturday's clash with Stuttgart will provide the first major test of the campaign against a top-end rival, but based on the way they have been ticking along so far, there is no room for panic at Borussia Dortmund.
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