James celebrates first start for Bayern Munich in style
BERLIN: Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez celebrated his first Bundesliga start for Bayern Munich in style by inspiring them to a 3-0 win at Schalke 04 on Tuesday.
James, on loan from Real Madrid, scored the second goal and cleverly set up the third, having also played a part in winning the penalty which got Bayern off the mark.
Robert Lewandowski fired Bayern ahead from the spot in the 25th minute after James got to the byline and produced a cross which was handled by Naldo.
Four minutes later, James got free in the Schalke box and tucked his shot past Ralf Faehrmann for Bayern’s second.
Not content with that, he cut inside two defenders and dinked the ball over the Schalke defence for Arturo Vidal to add the third in the 75th minute.
Bayern’s win put them on 12 points from five games and took them top.
Augsburg continued their impressive start when a fourth-minute goal from Michael Gregoritsch gave them a 1-0 win over last season’s runners-up RB Leipzig.
VfL Wolfsburg drew 1-1 at home to Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach beat VfB Stuttgart 2-0 in the other games.
NEUER OUT UNTIL JANUARY
Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be out of action until January after sustaining a foot injury for the second time in six months, the Bavarians said on Tuesday.
Bayern said in a statement that the 31-year-old had suffered a “repeat hairline fracture of the metatarsal in his left foot” during a training session on Monday.
He underwent surgery early on Tuesday which involved setting the fracture with a plate, the club added.
Neuer suffered a similar injury to the same foot in April.
“We’re i ncredibly sorry f or him,” said Bayern’s chief executive KarlHeinz Rummenigge.
“The operation went perfectly, which is the most important thing for now, he said.”
“We and our captain are now looking to the future. Manuel will be back to his previous best and available to us again in January.”