Gladbach run riot in nine-goal thriller

Cameroon striker Mohamadou Idrissou was both goal-scorer and provider for Moenchengladbach as they upset Leverkusen 6-3 on Sunday in a nine-goal thriller on a weekend of shock results in the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen’s Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler had a day to forget between the posts as his defence capitulated leaving coach Jupp Heynckes red-faced.

After Bayern Munich were beaten at Kaiserslautern on Friday, Wolfsburg allowed a 3-0 lead to slip to a 4-3 defeat by Mainz on Saturday as Schalke went down at home to Hanover on a bad weekend for the German league’s top teams.

Leverkusen fielded Germany star midfielder Michael Ballack, Adler and striker Stefan Kiessling, but were out-played by ‘Gladbach as midfielder Patrick Herrmann netted twice for the guests.

Idrissou set up both of Herrmann’s first-half goals and was a constant thorn in the Leverkusen defence while Dutchman Roel Brouwers also netted to make it 3-1 at the break after Bayer’s Eren Derdiyok pulled a goal back.

Venezuela midfielder Juan Arango then curled in a free-kick to make it 4-1 before Bayer’s Arturo Vidal netted a 58th-minute penalty to pull it back to 4-2.

But ‘Gladbach kept up the pressure as both Idrissou and midfielder Marco Reus scored to put their side 6-2 ahead before Kiessling slammed home his shot to make it 6-3 after Borussia goalkeeper Logan Bailly made a rare mistake.

The result leaves both sides in midtable, but Hoffenheim are joint early leaders with Kaiserslautern after Ghana defender Isaac Vorsah headed a late goal on Saturday night that gave them a 1-0 win at newcomers St Pauli.

Earlier, Wolfsburg playmaker Diego marked his return to the Bundesliga with a goal but was unable to prevent his new side’s shock 4-3 defeat by Mainz as the home side threw away a 3-0 lead.

Last season’s runners-up Schalke were shocked 2-1 at home to Hanover, with defender Konstantin Rausch and striker Mohammed Abdellaoue scoring either side of half-time as the Royal Blues suffered their second consecutive defeat.

Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones scored a consolation with a header in the last ten minutes, but the home fans booed the home side’s poor performance and Germany defender Christoph Metzelder was singled out.

Hamburg had to come from behind to win 3-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt as Dutch defender Joris Mathijsen scored a 61st-minute equaliser to spare his side’s blushes before Ruud van Nistelrooy claimed his third goal in two games.

Peruvian Jose Paolo Guerrero netted in the 89th minute to seal the three points for Hamburg.

Bremen bounced back from their hammering on the opening day of the season against Hoffenheim when they beat Cologne 4-1, while Freiburg beat Nuremberg 2-1 after coming from behind thanks to two goals by Senegal striker Demba Cisse.

On Friday, champions Bayern Munich suffered a shock upset when they lost 2-0 at 10-man Kaiserslautern.

Bayern were beaten in only their second German league game of the season and were punished for a lethargic first-half performance, as Cologne claimed their second straight win.

Thomas Mueller wasted a golden chance for the visitors in the first half and Kaiserslautern, last season’s second division champions, made Bayern pay through goals from Ivo Ilicevic and Srdjan Lakic.