Bundesliga wrap: Bayern stay perfect, Dortmund falter

Bayern Munich won for a record eighth straight time to start the Bundesliga season as champions Borussia Dortmund slipped further behind.

The league leaders breezed past Fortuna Duesseldorf in a 5-0 win at the Esprit Arena as Franck Ribery starred and Thomas Mueller bagged a double in the club’s best start to a season.

Some poor defending was at the heart of the hosts’ defeat as Mario Mandzukic was left in acres of space to set Bayern on their way to the win with a simple first-half strike from Ribery’s cross.

Luiz Gustavo bundled in a second and Mueller added another two after the break, the first from Ribery’s brilliant work down the right flank.

Bayern’s perfect start to the season was completed with Rafinha netting the final goal in the rout.

Dortmund suffered another telling blow to their ambitions for a third consecutive Bundesliga title as they fell 2-1 to Schalke in the Revierderby at Signal Iduna Park.

A sublime strike from Ibrahim Afellay opened the scoring for the visitors with 14 minutes gone, and Marco Hoeger had Dortmund on the ropes with a second goal three minutes into the second half.

Robert Lewandowski responded eight minutes later with a header, but that was about the best a below-par Dortmund side could offer, as they now face a daunting 12-point gap to leaders Bayern Munich.

Second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt continued to surprise with a 3-1 win over Hannover, their sixth victory from eight games.

The hosts went 2-0 up and added the insurance courtesy of Alexander Meier’s 83rd-minute strike after Mohammed Abdellaoue had made it 2-1 shortly before half-time.

Last-placed Wolfsburg lost for a fourth consecutive league game, going down 2-0 at home to Freiburg after a penalty to Daniel Caligiuri and a Julian Schuster strike.

Bayer Leverkusen stretched their unbeaten run in the league to five games with a come-from-behind 2-2 draw at home to Mainz.

The visitors went ahead with both their goals coming in the second half but Gonzalo Castro had the last say for Leverkusen with the equaliser three minutes from time.

Werder Bremen moved to within two points of fourth place with a 4-0 win against Borussia Moenchengladbach.