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Borussia Dortmund knocked Bayern Munich off top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday as new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored both goals in their 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder scored his first two league goals on only his third Bundesliga appearance. It means Dortmund go into the international break for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers two points clear of European champions Bayern.
Armenian international Mkhitaryan started off by finishing a defence-splitting pass from Poland winger Jakub Blaszczykowski after ten minutes. Frankfurt equalised when Stefan Aigner's bullet-header slammed off the post and Czech striker Vaclav Kadlec rifled home the rebound on 36 minutes for his first Bundesliga goal, having joined from Sparta Prague last month. But Mkhitaryan restored Dortmund's lead with the winner when he dribbled along the edge of the area and unleashed a fearsome shot past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
The result means Dortmund finish the weekend as the league's only team with a 100 percent record as Bayern, who drew 1-1 with Freiburg on Tuesday, Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen all dropped points.
Earlier, VfB Stuttgart romped to a 6-2 Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim with striker Vedad Ibisevic netting a hat-trick after coach Bruno Labbadia was sacked last Monday. Stuttgart picked up their first points of the season after three straight defeats led to Labbadia's dismissal. Caretaker coach Thomas Schneider got off to an emphatic start as Stuttgart's Romanian striker Alexandru Maxim did the damage by scoring two goals and setting up two more, while Bosnia striker Ibisevic claimed a hat-trick. The result lifts Stuttgart out of the bottom three and into 14th and leaves Hoffenheim 11th after their first defeat of the season.
Schalke shock Leverkusen
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On Saturday, Leverkusen blew the chance to go top with a 2-0 defeat at resurgent Schalke 04. Both Germany left-back Dennis Aogo, who has joined Schalke on loan from Hamburg, and Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who signed a four-year deal after arriving from AC Milan on Friday, started as the Royal Blues picked up their first league win of the season. Schalke went ahead with half an hour gone when a free-kick went in off midfielder Marco Hoeger's right shoulder before Peru forward Jefferson Farfan made sure of the win when he drilled home an 83rd-minute penalty after being hauled down in the area.
Mainz 05 also wasted their opportunity to go top as they crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Hanover 96. Mainz took a 12th-minute lead through striker Nicolai Mueller, but Senegal striker Mame Diouf and Poland forward Artur Sobiech put the hosts 2-1 up at the break before Ivory Coast forward Didier Ya Konan and midfielder Edgar Prib increased the lead.
Elsewhere, struggling Hamburg picked up their first win of the season after two consecutive defeats with a 4-0 thumping of promoted Eintracht Braunschweig. Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart put Hamburg ahead in the seventh minute on their first attack before Cameroon striker Jacques Zoua doubled the lead on 17 minutes as the hosts counter-attacked at pace. Hamburg made sure of the three points - and Braunschweig's fourth straight defeat to leave Eintracht bottom of the table - when 19-year-old Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu came on for Van der Vaart on 79 minutes to claim a brace, including a stunning free-kick.
Meanwhile, Borussia Mönchengladbach moved up to seventh as they romped to a 4-1 home win over Werder Bremen. Wolfsburg enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Hertha Berlin with Ivica Olic and Diego on target, while Augsburg picked up their second straight win with a 1-0 success at Nuremberg thanks to a late goal from substitute Kevin Vogt.
[afp/ko]
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Borussia Dortmund knocked Bayern Munich off top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday as new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored both goals in their 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder scored his first two league goals on only his third Bundesliga appearance. It means Dortmund go into the international break for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers two points clear of European champions Bayern.
Armenian international Mkhitaryan started off by finishing a defence-splitting pass from Poland winger Jakub Blaszczykowski after ten minutes. Frankfurt equalised when Stefan Aigner's bullet-header slammed off the post and Czech striker Vaclav Kadlec rifled home the rebound on 36 minutes for his first Bundesliga goal, having joined from Sparta Prague last month. But Mkhitaryan restored Dortmund's lead with the winner when he dribbled along the edge of the area and unleashed a fearsome shot past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
The result means Dortmund finish the weekend as the league's only team with a 100 percent record as Bayern, who drew 1-1 with Freiburg on Tuesday, Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen all dropped points.
Earlier, VfB Stuttgart romped to a 6-2 Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim with striker Vedad Ibisevic netting a hat-trick after coach Bruno Labbadia was sacked last Monday. Stuttgart picked up their first points of the season after three straight defeats led to Labbadia's dismissal. Caretaker coach Thomas Schneider got off to an emphatic start as Stuttgart's Romanian striker Alexandru Maxim did the damage by scoring two goals and setting up two more, while Bosnia striker Ibisevic claimed a hat-trick. The result lifts Stuttgart out of the bottom three and into 14th and leaves Hoffenheim 11th after their first defeat of the season.
Schalke shock Leverkusen
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On Saturday, Leverkusen blew the chance to go top with a 2-0 defeat at resurgent Schalke 04. Both Germany left-back Dennis Aogo, who has joined Schalke on loan from Hamburg, and Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who signed a four-year deal after arriving from AC Milan on Friday, started as the Royal Blues picked up their first league win of the season. Schalke went ahead with half an hour gone when a free-kick went in off midfielder Marco Hoeger's right shoulder before Peru forward Jefferson Farfan made sure of the win when he drilled home an 83rd-minute penalty after being hauled down in the area.
Mainz 05 also wasted their opportunity to go top as they crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Hanover 96. Mainz took a 12th-minute lead through striker Nicolai Mueller, but Senegal striker Mame Diouf and Poland forward Artur Sobiech put the hosts 2-1 up at the break before Ivory Coast forward Didier Ya Konan and midfielder Edgar Prib increased the lead.
Elsewhere, struggling Hamburg picked up their first win of the season after two consecutive defeats with a 4-0 thumping of promoted Eintracht Braunschweig. Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart put Hamburg ahead in the seventh minute on their first attack before Cameroon striker Jacques Zoua doubled the lead on 17 minutes as the hosts counter-attacked at pace. Hamburg made sure of the three points - and Braunschweig's fourth straight defeat to leave Eintracht bottom of the table - when 19-year-old Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu came on for Van der Vaart on 79 minutes to claim a brace, including a stunning free-kick.
Meanwhile, Borussia Mönchengladbach moved up to seventh as they romped to a 4-1 home win over Werder Bremen. Wolfsburg enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to Hertha Berlin with Ivica Olic and Diego on target, while Augsburg picked up their second straight win with a 1-0 success at Nuremberg thanks to a late goal from substitute Kevin Vogt.