Eurosport - Sat, 29 Aug 20:43:00 2009
Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored twice on his debut to help Bayern Munich beat champions VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 and win their first league match of the season.
Robben, making his first appearance one day after signing from Real Madrid, came on as a half-time substitute for Hamit Altintop with Bayern leading 1-0.
The 25-year-old opened his account in the 68th minute when he latched onto Frenchman Franck Ribery's pass and fired into the corner of the net after a perfectly-timed run.
Ribery was also involved 12 minutes later when the same pair exchanged passes before Robben sidestepped his marker and slotted past goalkeeper Diego Benaglio.
Bayern dominated from early on, Bastian Schweinsteiger heading against the bar before Mario Gomez, the Bundesliga's most expensive signing, pounced on a rebound to score after Benaglio parried Altintop's shot in the 27th minute.
"I couldn't have imagined a better start," said Robben. "The whole team played well together. We controlled the match.
"Franck and I played well together. He's a good player and we need him."
Bayern, who began the weekend 14th in the Bundesliga after their worst start to the season for 43 years, leapt to seventh with five points from four games. Wolfsburg, one place ahead, have six points after their second straight defeat.
Elsewhere, Germany-reject Steffan Kiessling hit the second-half winner to keep Bayer Leverkusen top as his strike sealed a 2-1 win over Bochum.
Germany coach Joachim Loew has found no place for Kiessling in his squad for next Saturday's friendly against South Africa or the World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on September 9, but the Leverkusen star responded in style.
His 68th-minute strike was enough to give his side the win which gives them a three-point league lead over second-placed Hamburg, who play Cologne on Sunday when Hertha Berlin also host Werder Bremen.
"We deserved the win," said Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes.
"But we did make life a bit difficult for ourselves.
"In the first half, we played varied between good and very good, we worked hard for our many chances.
"But we didn't really capitalise on our opportunities, we weren't as effective as in Freiburg.
"It speaks volumes for the team that we came back from being 1-0 down.
"The team has shown they have the absolute will to decide games."
Leverkusen built on last weekend's 5-0 win over Freiburg with a win over Bochum as Manuel Friedrich scored for both teams.
Leverkusen's ex-Germany defender Friedrich put Bochum ahead when he won the sprint against Cameroon midfielder Joel Epalle, but stabbed the ball into his own net on 32 minutes.
To repair the damage, he scored with a header on 41 minutes then Bayer took the lead before striker Kiessling's second-half winner.
Leverkusen's teenage midfielder Tony Kroos found himself free on the right side of the penalty area and passed across for Kiessling to fire home from six metres out.
Schalke 04 went down without a fight as they were shocked 1-0 at home to minnows Freiburg.
"That was a return to last season," admitted glum-faced Schalke coach Felix Magath after the final whistle.
"We weren't aggressive enough, we were directionless, didn't invest enough hard work and didn't lead from the front.
"In the second half, we pressed forward and developed some attacks, but we weren't decisive enough.
"We attacked too little and deserved to lose."
Having hit the bar midway through the first half, Freiburg took the lead when South Korean defender Du-Ri Cha scored in the 40th minute with a right-footed strike.
German magazine Kicker's website has reported Schalke's Brazilian defender Rafinha is being lined up by Bayern Munich for a last-minute switch to Bavaria before the transfer window closes on August 31 and the news seemed to have affected lifeless Schalke.
Both substitute Halil Altintop and striker Kevin Kuranyi hit the post for Schalke, but Magath's expression was aubergine-dark at the final whistle.
Nuremberg held Stuttgart to a 0-0 draw while Dortmund drew 1-1 with Frankfurt.
On Friday night, Mainz, who took Bayern's scalp with a 2-1 victory last Saturday, were brought down to earth when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
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Roben Gomez Ribery
Shweinsteiger Altintop
THIS TEAM WILL WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 4 SURE!!!
They desperately need a wingback
They still need to have a DMF
Surely
now bayern a force to be reckons with in europe. before this they only got ribery but now with robben on the team, they will be contender again.
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