Dortmund, Leverkusen start with Bundesliga wins

A relentless Dortmund crushed Monchengladbach 4-0 while Leverkusen came from behind to edge Hoffenheim 2-1 thanks to Julian Brandt's decider in the first round of German football league Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund showed no mercy with Monchengladbach as Thomas Tuchel's men smashed the uninspired 'Foals' with the assistance of Henrikh Mkhitaryan's brace on Saturday, reports Xinhua.

The 'BVB' dominated the clash from kick-off and overcame Monchengladbach's defence for the first time in the 15th minute when Marco Reus unleashed a well-placed shot.

Dortmund got into their stride and doubled the lead against the hapless visitors as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang nodded home a pinpoint cross by Marcel Schmelzer six minutes later.

Lucien Favre's men were unable to stop the BVB. Henrikh Mkhitaryan killed the game with a brace in the 50th minute to wrap up Dortmund's 4-0 victory on home soil.

Hoffenheim squandered a 1-0 lead to lose 1-2 to Bayer Leverkusen. The 'TSG' caught a fairy tale start as Steven Zuber opened the scoring with just five minutes into the game.

Leverkusen remained unimpressed and responded when Stefan Kiessling tapped in a rebound from close range just before the interval.

After the break, Bayer Leverkusen took over to score the winner through youngster Julian Brandt, who completed a fast break in the 71st minute to gift the hosts the first three points of the season.

Schalke staged a faultless 3-0 performance against Bremen to reap their first victory of the season. The 'Royal Blues' controlled the proceedings from the start as Bremen's Theodor Gebre Selassie scored an own goal in the 34th minute.

After the restart, Bremen tried to level the score but Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting destroyed their hope of a comeback with a 15-metre long-range effort in the 68th minute.

The 2-0 lead took the wind out of Bremen's sails as Klaas Jan Huntelaar put the game beyond the 'Green-Whites' following the build up play by Leroy Sane with five minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Berlin snatched a neat 1-0 away victory over 10-man Augsburg, who rattled the woodwork thrice. Salomon Kalou scored the only goal of the match with a converted foul play penalty.

Newly promoted Darmstadt shared the spoils with Hannover, despite grabbing the lead twice, whereas newly promoted Ingolstadt started with a 1-0 victory over Mainz.