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Schalke, Dortmund off to winning starts; Hoffenheim hit three

Other News Materials 16 August 2008 21:18 (UTC +04:00)

Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund began the German league season with victories under new coaches while newly-promoted Hoffenheim hit three goals to record a first Bundesliga win in club history on Saturday, dpa reported.

Meanwhile last season's runners up Werder Bremen had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Arminia Bielefeld, while Wolfsburg came from behind to beat newly-promoted Cologne 2-1.

Schalke's new Dutch coach Fred Rutten saw his team get off to a perfect start with two quick goals in a 3-0 victory over Hanover in Gelsenkirchen.

It puts Schalke joint level on top of the table with Hoffenheim, who were 3-0 winners at Energie Cottbus, after the first Saturday of the league season.

Marcelo Bordon headed Schalke in front from a corner in the second minute and Kevin Kuranyi netted the second six minutes later after Bordon had again won the ball in the air from a corner.

Kuranyi completed the drubbing by heading a third from a free-kick in the 64th minute.

Dortmund under Juergen Klopp earned a 3-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen with Nelson Valdez (4th), Florian Kringe (36th) and Neven Subotic (49th) on his debut on target.

New signing Patrick Helmes (21st) and Stefan Kiessling (83rd) scored for Leverkusen in a disappointing begin for new coach Bruno Labbadia.

Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg twice put Bremen ahead with goals in the 60th and 80th minutes against Bielefeld but the home side hit back each time through Poland striker Artur Wichniarek in the 74th and 81st.

Village club Hoffenheim, who have risen from the lower leagues, scored a first-ever Bundesliga goal through Vedad Ibisevic in the 17th minute at Energie Cottbus.

Senegalese striker Semba Ba, who had helped set up the goal, struck a second 10 minutes into the second half and the rout was completed by an Ibisevic header in the 76th.

Milivoje Novakovic, last season's second-division top scorer, headed Cologne ahead in the 20th minute at Wolfsburg, but Felix Magath's side levelled three minutes after the break through Christian Gentner and struck a 78th-minute winner through new signing Zvjezdan Misimovic.

Karlsruhe began with a 1-0 victory over Bochum, with Christian Eichner settling the affair in the 30th minute.

The 2008/2009 Bundesliga season got underway Friday evening when SV Hamburg came from two goals down to hold title holders Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw and spoil Juergen Klinsmann's league debut with the Bavarians.

The first weekend of league action continues on Sunday when newly-promoted Borussia Moenchengladbach entertain VfB Stuttgart, and Hertha Berlin visit Eintracht Frankfurt.

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