Dutch star Arjen Robben produced another eye-catching performance on Saturday as Bayern Munich hammered Hamburg SV 5-0, while champions Borussia Dortmund earned a 2-0 victory over Nuremberg.
Having orchestrated Bayern’s home win over Zurich in a Champions League qualifier on Wednesday, Robben ran the opposition ragged and scored as the Bavarian giants dismantled Hamburg at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
“When everyone is fit we could score more goals, we were very disciplined,” said Robben, who came off on 66 minutes with his side 4-0 up as he recovers from a back injury. “I felt better than I did against Zurich, but the pain got worse in the second half and I thought it was better to come off. There is still more to come from me and this team.”
Photo: AFP
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said he was happy his side kept their third straight clean sheet.
“This was our best performance of the season,” he said. “I am especially pleased that we not only created an abundance of goal chances, but we stopped the opposition from scoring again.”
Winless after the first three games, Hamburg captain Heiko Westermann admitted he was again perplexed with his side’s performance.
“This is inexplicable,” Westermann said. “We just have to produce on the pitch the things we do in training. It is high time we win at home [next week against Cologne].”
Bayern are up to second in the table behind surprise early leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach after racing into a 2-0 lead inside 17 minutes.
First towering Belgium defender Daniel van Buyten buried his header from a Robben free-kick on 13 minutes and then French winger Franck Ribery danced around defenders to score the second.
Having already torn huge holes in the Hamburg defense, Robben made it 3-0 on 34 minutes when he beat two defenders and chipped Hamburg goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny.
A deft back-heel from Thomas Mueller allowed Mario Gomez to fire home on 56 minutes, before substitute Ivica Olic’s header on 80 minutes sealed the rout.
Having suffered a shock defeat at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim last week, champions Dortmund enjoyed a hard-fought win at home to Nuremberg.
A well-timed pass from Germany international Mario Goetze on 50 minutes found Poland striker Robert Lewandowski in the heart of the penalty area and he fired home, before Germany winger Kevin Grosskreutz added the second 10 minutes from time.
“Nuremberg defended really well for long stretches and showed plenty of initiative,” Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp said. “It was hard work for us and in the second half we were variable. It was not a pretty win for us, but it was a deserved one.”
Last season’s runners-up Bayer Leverkusen had a 1-0 win at 10-man VfB Stuttgart, who had Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz sent off for insulting the referee with time almost up.
The visitors took the lead when midfielder Michal Kadlec fired in a shot on 28 minutes which goalkeeper Sven Ulreich could only block, with Stefan Kiessling waiting to stab the ball into the net.
Werder Bremen earned a dramatic 5-3 win at home to SC Freiburg as Papiss Cisse scored twice for the guests, but ended up on the losing team after Aaron Hunt netted an 86th-minute penalty and Wesley scored in stoppage-time.
Newly promoted Augsburg are still looking for their first ever Bundesliga victory after they lost 2-0 to Hoffenheim, while the guests picked up their second straight win.
Suffering with a fever, Germany striker Lukas Podolski missed Cologne’s 1-1 draw at home to Kaiserslautern on Saturday night which kept his side at the foot of the table.
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