BERLIN – Paco Alcacer scored twice as Borussia Dortmund swept
to a 5-1 Bundesliga victory over Augsburg Saturday to take advantage
of champions Bayern Munich's 2-2 home draw with Hertha Berlin in the
previous evening's season opener.
Bayer Leverkusen meanwhile edged promoted Paderborn 3-2, while
Cologne, another promoted side, slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Wolfsburg.
Fortuna Dusseldorf won 3-1 at Werder Bremen, and Freiburg defeated
Mainz 3-0 with all the goals coming in the last eight minutes.
Last season's runners-up Dortmund, with new signings Thorgan Hazard,
Nico Schulz and the returning Mats Hummels in the starting line-up,
fell behind in the opening minute after neat approach play finished
off by Florian Niederlechner.
But Lucien Favre's side were level within two minutes when Alcacer
mopped up following a move involving Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho.
Sancho rifled Dortmund back in front six minutes after the break when
he had space at the far post to control Axel Witsel's cross.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BVBFCA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BVBFCA5-1 pic.twitter.com/SMqR83E8RA
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow)
Reus then netted in the 57th after keeper Tomas Koubek could not hold
Sancho's cross, and Alcacer made it four two minutes later, with
Sancho again the provider. New signing Julian Brandt came off the
bench for Hazard to wrap up the scoring eight minutes from time.
"We were surprised to go behind after 30 seconds but we stayed calm
and made it 1-1," Favre told Sky TV.
"We increased the pace on the second half, which was very good. It
was a clear result and well-earned in the end but we also have some
things to work on.
"We want to get better every day. Important for me is that the
players make progress - individually but also collectively."
Midfielder Julian Weigl told Sky: "We could not have started better.
Even if the first two minutes did not go as we had imagined, we
stayed calm and showed our quality.
"Bayern's draw spurred us on to lay down a marker. I think we managed
that very well today."
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— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow)
Bayer Leverkusen had to work hard against promoted Paderborn before
Kevin Volland netted a 69th-minute winner in a 3-2 victory.
Leon Bailey put Leverkusen ahead in the 10th minute only for Sven
Michel to level five minutes later.
Kai Havertz chipped keeper Jannik Huth to put the home side back in
front but Streli Mamba equalized when the referee played the
advantage after Brazilian defender Wendell handled on the line,
earning a booking.
Bremen chalked up a record 1,867th Bundesliga game against Fortuna
Dusseldorf but had little to celebrate in a 3-1 defeat before home
fans in the Weserstadion.
Rouwen Hennings opened the scoring for Dusseldorf in the 36th minute
and after Johannes Eggestein headed Bremen level shortly after the
interval, the visitors hit back through Kenan Karaman and a Kaa Ayhan
header.
Wolfsburg began with a 2-1 win over promoted Cologne, Maximilian
Arnold volleying in from outside the area in the 16th minute and Wout
Weghorst doubling the tally on the hour before a stoppage-time goal
from Cologne's Simon Terodede.
Freiburg downed Mainz with three late goals in five minutes. Lucas
Hoeler opened the account in the 82nd minutes, Jonathan Schmid made
it two in the 84th and Luca Waldschmidt converted from the penalty
spot three minutes later.
Borussia Moenchengladbach greet Schalke in the day's later game,
while on Sunday promoted Union Berlin are at home to RB Leipzig, and
Eintracht Frankfurt entertain Hoffenheim.