Bayern smash ten-man Stuttgart to top Bundesliga
Bayern Munich floored ten-man VfB Stuttgart 6-1 on Sunday, with Germany's Thomas Mueller scoring twice, to finish the second weekend of the Bundesliga season at the top of the table. Having signed Javi Martinez for a Bundesliga record 40 million euros ($50.3m) on Thursday from Athletic Bilbao, Bayern still managed to rout Stuttgart before the Spain midfielder came on for the final 13 minutes. "He has already hinted that he can play well, I think he is exactly the sort of player we need," said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes at the Allianz Arena. "We made life hard for ourselves in the first few minutes, then little by little we took control of the game and played outstandingly well." Bayern had to come from behind after Stuttgart took a 25th-minute lead courtesy of a brilliant volley from Austria striker Martin Harnik. The home side roared back as Mueller scored his first after following up his long-range strike, which was parried by Stuttgart 'keeper Sven Ulreich, to stab home on 32 minutes. His Germany team-mate Toni Kroos then added a second a minute later with a superb hit after Bayern broke the Stuttgart defence. Luiz Gustavo -- whose place in the side has come under threat following Martinez's arrival -- drilled home the third from 30 metres to make it 3-1 at the break. And the hosts maintained their assault on the Stuttgart goal with three goals in four second-half minutes. Striker Mario Mandzukic grabbed his fourth goal in three competitive appearance for Bayern two minutes after the break, before Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger added headers to make it 6-1 after only 51 minutes. To compound Stuttgart's misery, striker Vedad Ibisevic was shown a straight red card for headbutting Bayern defender Jerome Boateng, who was also booked, on 74 minutes, before Schweinsteiger made way for debutant Martinez. Bayern's win put them top of the league on goal difference ahead of promoted Eintracht Frankfurt, who routed nine-man Hoffenheim 4-0 on Saturday to maintain their perfect start. Earlier ten-man Wolfsburg suffered their worst Bundesliga home defeat this century after they were routed 4-0 by local rivals Hannover 96, who finsh the weekend third. Felix Magath's Wolves were put to the sword by a rampant Hannover team as the 2009 German champions suffered their worst defeat at home since a 7-2 hammering by Werder Bremen in September 1999. Tunisia defender Karim Haggui opened the scoring after only 10 minutes before Poland striker Artur Sobiech scored the first of his two goals on 26 minutes. The Wolfsburg defence capitulated in a devastating four-minute spell as first Denmark midfielder Leon Andreasen, then Sobiech popped up with headers to make it 4-0 before the hour. To rub salt in Wolfsburg's wounds, 20-year-old defender Robin Knoche was sent off for his second yellow card on 65 minutes for a foul on Konstantin Rausch. Schalke 04 enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to Augsburg on Saturday to finish the weekend fourth as Dutch winger Ibrahim Afellay, who the Royal Blues have signed on a season-long loan from Barcelona, made his debut in the dying stages. Champions Borussia Dortmund are sixth after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Nuremberg as Czech Republic striker Tomas Pekhart's header was cancelled out when Dortmund midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski fired home before the break. Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who has rejoined Hamburg from Tottenham Hotspur, could only watch as his new teammates lost 2-0 at Werder Bremen in the North German derby. Bremen midfielder Aaron Hunt converted a penalty before Nils Petersen fired under Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler to seal the three points. Leverkusen grabbed a 2-0 win at home to Freiburg thanks to goals in each half from Gonzalo Castro and defender Philipp Wollscheid. Fortuna Duesseldorf held Borussia Moenchengladbach to a goalless draw in Saturday's late game to finish the weekend fifth in the table.
