Dortmund, Germany – Schalke surprised defending Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr derby on Saturday, using goals from Ibrahim Afellay and Marco Hoger for a 2-1 win at Signal Iduna Park.
Afellay opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Hoger doubled the lead just three minutes into the second half, and a Robert Lewandowski goal in the 55th was not enough for Dortmund to respond at home.
Schalke won for the third time during a four-game unbeaten streak and remained within seven points of runaway leader Bayern Munich, which has won all eight of its Bundesliga matches this season.
Dortmund lost for the second time along with three draws through eight matches to slip 12 points off the pace with not even a quarter of the season complete.
Afellay stunned the Dortmund fans early when he volleyed a clearance attempt from Sven Bender inside the left post past goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Schalke doubled its lead in the 48th, when Lewis Holtby played Hoger through for a one-on-one chance with Weidenfeller, and he finished to put the visitors in control.
Lewandowski pulled a goal back seven minutes later when he headed a cross from Marco Reus past Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, but the Blues held on for the huge early-season win.
Dortmund won both games in the rivalry last season, but the two-time defending champions are off to a poor start this season and have to regroup Wednesday at home when Real Madrid visits in the Champions League.
Bayern Munich 5, Dusseldorf 0
Dusseldorf, Germany - Mario Mandzukic scored his Bundesliga-high seventh goal and Thomas Muller had a brace to move into second in the league with six goals as Bayern Munich cruised to a 5-0 win Saturday over Dusseldorf at Esprit Arena for its record eighth straight win to start the season.
Luis Gustavo and Rafinha also scored for Bayern Munich, which became the first team in the 50-year history of the league to win its first eight matches. The win was also the 300th for coach Jupp Heynckes during his career.
Bayern maintained its five-point edge on surprising Eintracht, which continued its impressive start with a 3-1 win over Hannover. Dusseldorf was unbeaten in its first six matches, but lost its second straight.
Mandzukic opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark off an assist from Franck Ribery, finishing to the lower-right corner from six yards. Gustavo was on target in the 36th, when he picked out the bottom-left corner.
Muller added a third 10 minutes after halftime off another Ribery assist as he finished a right-wing cross to the near post and completed his brace with just minutes remaining off another Ribery pass.
Rafinha made it five just one minute later, as he converted low to the bottom- left corner from inside the area to wrap up the convincing Bayern victory.
Eintracht 3, Hannover 1
Frankfurt, Germany - Karim Matmour and Sebastian Jung scored inside 18 minutes as Eintracht rebounded from its first loss of the Bundesliga season with a 3-1 win over Hannover on Saturday at Commerzbank Arena.
Promoted Eintracht marked its return to the top flight with five victories and a tie before a loss to Monchengladbach, but Matmour turned a pass from Bastian Oczipka to the bottom right and Jung followed with a a goal tot he bottom left off a pass from Stefan Aigner.
Mohammed Abdellaoue pulled a goal back before half for Hannover, but Alexander Meier secured a sixth win in eight games with the clinching goal eight minutes from time off a header to the top-left corner for his fifth this season.
Eintracht kept pace with leader Bayern Munich, which made it eight-for-eight on Saturday with a 5-0 win at Dusseldorf.
Bayer Leverkusen 2, Mainz 2
Leverkusen, Germany - Gonzalo Castro scored three minutes from time as Bayer Leverkusen tied Mainz, 2-2, on Saturday at BayArena to extend its unbeaten run to five matches in the Bundesliga.
Stefan Kiessling put Leverkusen in front before halftime, but Adam Szalai and Marcel Risse scored after the break as Mainz pushed for its fourth win in its last five matches.
Castro denied Mainz an impressive road win when he scored from just inside the area to the bottom-left corner in the 87th minute.
Leverkusen still dropped 12 points off the pace of eight-win Bayern Munich and Mainz fell 13 points behind the runaway leader.
Werder Bremen 4, Monchengladbach 0
Bremen, Germany - Nils Petersen and Marko Arnautovic scored late in the first half and Werder Bremen rolled to a 4-0 win over Monchengladbach on Saturday at Weserstadion in the Bundesliga.
Petersen, on loan from Bayern Munich, scored his second goal of the season for Bremen eight minutes before half and Arnautovic struck on the stroke of half. Niclas Fullkrug and Junuzovic Zlatko added second-half goals as Bremen snapped a two-game losing skid in impressive fashion.
Bremen stayed within 14 points of first-place Bayern Munich. Gladbach dropped points for the sixth time in eight matches and fell 15 points off the top.
Freiburg 2, Wolfsburg 0
Wolfsburg, Germany - Daniel Caligiuri and Julian Schuster scored and Freiburg piled more misery on Wolfsburg on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Volkswagen Arena in the Bundesliga.
Freiburg won its second consecutive game to remain within 13 points of first- place Bayern Munich. Wolfsburg lost its fourth straight as its winless streak extended to seven matches and dropped 19 points off the top in last place.
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