Sat, Aug 21 10 11:36 PM
Hoffenheim fought back from conceding an early goal, scoring four times in 23 minutes to crush Werder Bremen 4-1 in an impressive display of attacking football on Saturday.
Werder, hoping to qualify for the Champions League group stage after beating Sampdoria 3-1 in the first leg of their midweek playoff, took a third-minute lead when captain Torsten Frings converted a penalty awarded for handball.
Hoffenheim then burst into life, netting four times before the break through Demba Ba, teenager Peniel Mlapa, Vedad Ibisevic and a well-struck Sejad Salihovic free kick as their opponents imploded on the first full matchday of the season.
On Friday, champions Bayern Munich needed a stoppage-time goal from Bastian Schweinsteiger to beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1.
Schalke 04, last season's runners-up, take on Hamburg SV later on Saturday.
GOOD START
Werder, who sold top midfielder Mesut Ozil to Real Madrid in the week, made a good start but instead of building on their lead they conceded too much space to the hosts and no one stepped in to fill the playmaking void.
It came as no surprise when Ba equalised in the 20th minute, pouncing on a poor clearance of Ibisevic's cross to slot home from close range.
The 19-year-old Mlapa then fired the hosts into the lead as he raced clear to beat keeper Tim Wiese in the 37th minute before Ibisevic and Salihovic added two more goals.
Werder, who saw striker Hugo Almeida limp off with a muscle injury early in the first half, rarely threatened.
Claudio Pizarro, who needs one goal to overtake Giovane Elber as the best foreign scorer in the Bundesliga, made little headway in attack.
Elsewhere it was a perfect start for promoted Kaiserslautern and St Pauli who recorded 3-1 wins at Cologne and Freiburg respectively.
Hanover 96 put their first-round German Cup exit last week behind them to edge past Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.
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