The Malta Independent on Sunday
Eight in a row for mighty Bayern
Defending champion Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to bitter rival Schalke in the 141st Ruhr derby yesterday, while Bayern Munich became the first side to start the league with eight wins.
Ibrahim Afellay opened the scoring in the 14th minute, when he crashed a low shot in off the left post, and Schalke went 2-0 up in the 48th, when Marco Hoeger finished off a counterattack after a brilliant through ball from Lewis Holtby.
Robert Lewandowski pulled one back with a header from Marco Reus' free kick seven minutes later, but it wasn't enough to save Dortmund's 17-game unbeaten run at home or prevent the side falling 12 points behind Bayern.
Thomas Mueller scored twice in Bayern's 5-0 rout of Fortuna Duesseldorf, with Mario Mandzukic, Luiz Gustavo and Rafinha also on target for the visitors.
The Ruhr derby was overshadowed by serious rioting outside Dortmund's stadium before kickoff. The dapd news agency reported that at least 150 fans were arrested, and that police used water cannon and pepper spray to prevent some 600 Schalke fans from clashing with several hundred Dortmund supporters. Local police had 1,000 officers on duty for what is seen as a highrisk game.
Dortmund, which hosts Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, started without four injured internationals — Mario Goetze, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marcel Schmelzer and Ilkay Guendogan — while Schalke was missing Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and German midfielder Julian Draxler for the club's 1,500th Bundesliga game.
Schalke has concerns over Holtby's fitness ahead of Wednesday's visit to Arsenal after the forward went off after a hard but fair challenge from Neven Subotic.
In Duesseldorf, Franck Ribery delivered a perfect cross for Mandzukic's seventh goal of the season in the 28th, eight minutes before Luiz Gustavo inadvertently scored Bayern's second.
Ribery was again involved when Mueller made it 3-0 in the 55th, David Alaba crossed for the Germany international's second in the 86th, and Rafinha rounded off the scoring a minute later.
Gonzalo Castro's 87th-minute equalizer salvaged a point for Leverkusen, following goals from Adam Szalai and former Leverkusen player Marcel Risse for Mainz. Stefan Kiessling had given Leverkusen the lead in the 43rd.
Wolfsburg is bottom of the table after a Daniel Caligiuri penalty and Julian Schuster strike condemned Felix Magath's side to its fifth defeat of the season.
The under-pressure Magath will come under further scrutiny after opting to leave Brazilian playmaker Diego on the bench.
Frankfurt made a blistering start against Hannover, with Karim Matmour and Sebastian Jung making it 2-0 by the 18th minute.
Mohammed Abdellaoue pulled one back in the 43rd, but Alexander Meier sealed the win in the 83rd.