World NewsNew Boys Hoffenheim Join Schalke At the Top |
SCHALKE and Hoffenheim set the early pace in the Bundesliga as both teams recorded impressive 3-0 victories on the opening weekend of the season.
Schalke, under new coach Fred Rutten, proved too strong for Hannover in Gelsenkirchen and were a goal up after two minutes through Marcelo Bordon.Kevin Kuranyi made it 2-0 just five minutes later and the Germany striker broke through again in the 65th minute to put the result beyond doubt.
Hoffenheim were making their first ever appearance in Germany's top flight following their promotion from 2.Bundesliga last season.
And Ralf Rangnick's men stunned hosts Energie Cottbus thanks to a brace from Vedad Ibisevic (16 and 76) and Demba Ba's 55th-minute strike.
Borussia Dortmund also won their opener against Bayer Leverkusen with a nervy 3-2 success on Saturday.
Nelson Valdez saw his fifth-minute goal cancelled out by Leverkusen's Patrick Helmes after 21 minutes.
Dortmund then took control with Florian Kringe restoring their lead in the 38th minute before Neven Subotic made it 3-1 four minutes after the restart.
Leverkusen pulled a goal back through Stefan Kiessling seven minutes from time to set up a tense finish, but the visitors held on for the points.
Second-half goals from Christian Gentner and Zvjezdan Misimovic earned Wolfsburg a 2-1 victory over Cologne, who had earlier taken the lead with Milivoje Novakovic's 20th-minute strike.
Christian Eichner's effort on the half-hour mark was enough to secure a 1-0 win for Karlsruhe at the expense of Bochum, while Arminia Bielefeld played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with last season's runners-up Werder Bremen.
Markus Rosenberg had fired Werder ahead after 60 minutes only for Artur Wichniarek to restore parity in the 74th minute.
Rosenberg grabbed his second of the match six minutes later but Wichniarek was again the hero for the home side, finding the target within a minute to ensure the scores remained level.
The new season got under way on Friday night when defending champions Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Hamburg.
Copyright (c) 2009 Press Association
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