Hoffenheim rout Bremen as Bayer set early pace

BERLIN (AFP) – Hoffenheim destroyed Werder Bremen 4-1 on Saturday in a potent start to the Bundesliga season on the opening weekend while Bayern Munich proved they will again be the team to beat.

An injury-time goal by Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger sealed the defending champions’ 2-1 win over Wolfsburg on Friday night as Bayern opened the season, but Hoffenheim’s three goals in six first-half minutes saw off Bremen on Saturday.

Fresh from their 3-1 win over Sampdoria on Thursday in the Champions League qualifier, Bremen travelled to Hoffenheim in buoyant mood, but were humbled as the home side blitzed their hosts in the first 45 minutes.

Bremen took the lead when captain Torsten Frings slotted home an early penalty after a Hoffenheim handball, but it was all downhill from there for Werder.

Hoffenheim drew level when Senegal striker Demba Ba netted in the 20th minute, but things got surreal when Hoffenheim netted three goals in six minutes.

The rout started when teenager Peniel Mlapa slotted coolly past Bremen’s Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese on 37 minutes.

Striker Vedad Ibisevic then made it 3-1 when Frings was robbed of possession by Brazilian midfielder Luiz Gustavo, sprinted downfield and put in a superb pass for his Bosnian team-mate to convert on 41 minutes.

Bremen’s misery was compounded just two minutes later when Sejad Salihovic curled in a free-kick which left the Werder goalkeeper stranded as it finished 4-1 at the break and stayed that way.

Bundesliga history was made in Cologne as Lebanon defender Youssef Mohamad earned the fastest red card when he was sent off just 92 seconds into the new season in the 3-1 defeat against newly-promoted Kaiserslautern.

After Austrian striker Erwin Hoffer got around the back of the Cologne defence, Mohamad was the last defender and when he brought down Hoffer, referee Doctor Felix Brych showed him a straight red card.

In the other results, Moenchengladbach drew 1-1 at home to Nuremberg as Cameroon striker Mohamadou Idrissou equalised for the hosts.

Hanover beat Frankfurt 2-1 while newly-promoted St Pauli scored three goals in the last eight minutes to seal a 3-1 win at Freiburg.

On Friday, Ex-England manager Steve McClaren and his Wolfsburg side were denied a point as Bayern Munich’s Schweinsteiger latched onto Franck Ribery’s cross for the winner with seconds remaining.

Bayern made the perfect start as Germany’s Thomas Mueller — the top-scorer at last month’s World Cup — scored the opening goal after just nine minutes, only for Edin Dzeko to equalise after the break, before Schweini’s winner.

Last year’s runners-up Schalke travel to Hamburg on Saturday, with Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.

There was trouble in the Bayern camp before kick-off on Friday night when Argentinian centre-back Martin Demichelis refused to attend the Allianz Arena game after failing to make the starting line-up.

Bayern coach Louis van Gaal opted to select Daniel van Buyten and youngster Holger Badstuber in the heart of Munich’s defence and Demichelis boycotted the match in protest and says he now wants a transfer.

Demichelis has been at Bayern since 2003, but chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge ruled out releasing him before the summer transfer window closes on August 31.