Hamburg, Aug 30 (DPA) New signing Arjen Robben got his Bundesliga career off to a dream start as he scored twice in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 victory against defending champions VfL Wolfsburg.
Germany striker Mario Gomez gave Bayern the lead in the 27th minute after Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio failed to hold onto a long range effort from Hamit Altintop and Gomez had a simple task pushing in from close range Saturday.
Bayern’s Dutch coach Louis van Gaal brought on Robben at the start of the second half and the Dutch international, signed from Real Madrid late Thursday, immediately brought some urgency to Bayern’s attacking play.
He gave the home side fans something to cheer about in the 67th minute after his shot was deflected by defender Andrea Berzagli. Ten minutes from the break the Dutchman was brilliantly set up by fellow substitute Franck Ribery to score his second.
The win sees Bayern pick up their first three points of the season and will take some pressure off van Gaal after Bayern got their league campaign off to their worst start in 43 years.
Dutch international Robben admitted that one of the reasons why he signed with Bayern was that the club said Ribery would stay. “I could not wish for a better start. I am very happy and to play for this club and then score two goals is just terrific.
“I think we controlled the match and in the second half we created several chances and scored twice.”
Ribery said that it was very important that the side won their match. “Our fans expect us to win and after such a bad start we had to do better.
“We enjoyed the game today and that is very important that we have fun. Robben had a dream start and I think much will be seen by the new Bayern side.”
Wolfsburg’s German international Marcel Schaefer said that his side had simply not been good enough. “We slept through the first half. We did better in the second, but unfortunately failed to use our chances.”
Earlier Saturday Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat VfL Bochum 2-1 and move to the top of the Bundesliga standings.
Diego Klimowicz gave the visitors the lead in the 32nd minute after just beating defender Manuel Friedrich to the ball, but Friedrich equalized three minutes from the break with a header.
German international Stefan Kiessling scored the winner for his side in the 68th minute after being set up by Toni Kroos. It was Kiessling’s fourth goal of the season and sees him top the scorer charts.
The striker said that they had dominated the game. “Last week we made many goals out of few chances, today we made few goals out of many chances.
“It is looking really good for us at the moment and we need to now follow up with other wins,” he said.
Schalke 04 missed an opportunity to join Leverkusen at the top when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home against SC Freiburg, with South Korean defender Du-Ri Cha scoring the only goal of the game five minutes from the break.
Schalke coach Felix Magath, who lost his first game in charge of the team, said that his team simply did not do enough.
“We were headless and without a plan. I have no idea who told the players that they could only play high balls into the area. That is what they did,” he said.
In other matches Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo scored the only goal of the game as Hoffenheim secured their first three-pointer of the season with a 1-0 victory at struggling Hanover 96, while VfB Stuttgart and Nuremberg played to a goalless draw.
Nuremberg remain one of two Bundesliga clubs to have not yet won a match this season, with the other club – Cologne – still to play their fourth game.
In Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Egyptian international Mohamed Zidan gave the visitors the lead on the hour, but Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis found a well-deserved equaliser in the 68th minute.
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