Schalke, Leverkusen claim opening day wins; Ingolstadt stun Mainz
Andre Breitenreiter made a winning start to life as head coach of Schalke as the Royal Blues returned from Werder Bremen with a 3-0 win.
Theodor Gebre Selassie put the visitors in front in the Bundesliga match with a 34th-minute own goal, lobbing his goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald from 15 yards as he tried to snatch the ball off Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Huntelaar was denied a second for Schalke before Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting put the result beyond Bremen after 68 minutes when he needed just one touch to control Joel Matip's pass before picking his spot in the bottom left-hand corner.
Huntelaar got his own name on the scoresheet late on, supplying the easiest of finishes to Leroy Sane's pass after the 19-year-old covered the length of the field before providing the assist.
Bayer Leverkusen 2, Hoffenheim 1
Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 and claim a morale-boosting victory ahead of their UEFA Champions League playoff with Lazio on Tuesday (live, FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports Go, 2:30 p.m. ET).
Steven Zuber put Hoffenheim in front inside five minutes, beating the offside trap before coolly sliding his shot past Bernd Leno. Stefan Kiessling had a shot blocked before heading over, and Hakan Calhanoglu followed suit by wasting two chances as Leverkusen pegged Hoffenheim back in their own half.
However, the hosts finally drew level with Kiessling's 137th Bundesliga goal, which arrived before halftime as he showed all his goalscoring instincts to lift a loose ball into the roof of the net after Wendell's shot was only parried by Oliver Baumann. Leverkusen substitutes Admir Mehmedi and Julian Brandt then combined with the latter bagging Leverkusen a deserved winner late on.
Mainz 0, Ingolstadt 1
Ingolstadt marked their Bundesliga debut with a 1-0 win at Mainz, which came thanks to Lukas Hinterseer's historic strike.
Jairo Samperio wasted a good early chance before Mainz had a goal ruled out for offside as their guests, the 54th club to play in the Bundesliga, took time to find their feet. Once they did settle, Ingolstadt started to gain the upper hand and took the lead midway through the second half with Hinterseer scoring their first ever goal in the Bundesliga.
The 66th-minute goal was a curling effort that found the far corner to earn Ralph Hasenhuttl's visiting men all three points.
Augsburg 0, Hertha Berlin 1
Hertha Berlin took all three points from their trip to Augsburg with a Salomon Kalou penalty enough for a 1-0 win in a game which saw both sides reduced to 10 men.
Augsburg forward Raul Bobadilla was sent off for a second yellow-card offence before halftime, with Roy Beerens following for the guests midway through the second half. By then, Hertha had taken the lead after Ragnar Klavan fouled Kalou, who stepped up to beat Marwin Hitz from the spot in the 48th minute.
Alexander Esswein rattled the post with a free-kick as Augsburg looked in vain for an equalizer, continuing their habit of starting the season with a defeat under head coach Markus Weinzierl - like in their last two seasons when they went on to lose their opening two league games.
Darmstadt 2, Hannover 2
Darmstadt picked up a point on their return to the Bundesliga after an absence of 33 years, drawing 2-2 with Hannover at the Bollenfalltor.
Goal-line technology made its Bundesliga debut to rule a Salif Sane effort out, but it was Darmstadt who took the lead with their first top-flight goal since May 1982. It was well worth the wait when it arrived with Marcel Heller racing almost the full length of the field before turning in onto his favored right foot and curling a shot in off the underside of the crossbar.
Charlison Benschop leveled for Hannover early in the second half, but Heller was having none of it, rounding Ron-Robert Zieler and slotting the ball in for his and Darmstadt's second. Hannover could have levelled from the penalty spot, but summer signing Mevlut Erdinc's weak effort was saved, before Aytac Sulu, who conceded the penalty, put through his own goal to gift Hannover a point.
Borussia Dortmund was hosting Borussia Moenchengladbach later.
