Bundesliga Review: Tuchel´s Dortmund impress, newcomers fit right in

Thomas Tuchel enjoyed a dream start to his Borussia Dortmund reign as he masterminded a 4-0 home victory over Borussia Monchengladbach.

The hosts made an early statement of intent in the Bundesliga, thrashing a side who finished third last season – 20 points ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund.

It took just 15 minutes for Marco Reus to score the first competitive goal of the Tuchel era, the Germany international producing an emphatic finish to break the deadlock.

Signal-Iduna Park was rocking when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the advantage with a header six minutes later.

Henrik Mkhitaryan grabbed a goal either side of the interval and Dortmund may have had an eye on matching champions Bayern Munich’s five-goal haul on Friday.

Ultimately they had to settle for four, with the result and display offering plenty of cause for optimism that this season will easily surpass Klopp’s final campaign at the helm.

Ingolstadt and Darmstadt made themselves at home in the the top flight by picking up points in their opening matches of the season.

Having been crowned second-tier champions last season, Ingolstadt were indebted to Lukas Hinterseer’s 66th-minute strike in their 1-0 triumph at Mainz.

Darmstadt, also promoted last term, twice led in their match at home to Hannover, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Marcel Heller netted twice for the hosts, the first -– a fine solo effort – ending Darmstadt’s 33-year wait for a Bundesliga goal.

Charlison Benschop cancelled out that opener early in the second half and Heller’s hopes of being the match-winner were scuppered again when his second effort was eclipsed by Aytac Sulu’s own goal, with Hannover’s Mevlut Erdinc having earlier missed a penalty.

There was a positive start to Andre Breitenreiter’s reign as Schalke boss as they ran out 3-0 winners at Werder Bremen, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring for the Gelsenkirchen club after Bremen defender Theodor Gebre Selassie had put through his own goal to open the scoring.

Bayer Leverkusen came from a goal behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 – Julian Brandt grabbing the winner with 19 minutes to go – while Salomon Kalou’s penalty saw Hertha Berlin beat Augsburg 1-0 in a match that saw both sides finish with 10 men.