Treble winner Bayern Munich edged past Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 courtesy of a Mario Mandzukic volley on Saturday to equal its club record of 27 games without defeat as minnow Hoffenheim demolished Hamburg SV 5-1.
Forward Mandzukic volleyed in the winner after 13 minutes but despite having the lion’s share of possession Bayern failed to convert a number of good chances.
Powerful header
Toni Kroos caught the Frankfurt defence off guard with a powerful header hitting the post as textbook pressing from the visitors quickly gave them control of the game.
Mandzukic did better in the 13th minute, drilling in a wonderful volley for its second win in two league games.
VfL Wolfsburg, with new signing Luiz Gustavo making his first start a day after joining from Bayern Munich, stunned Schalke 04 4-0 including three goals in 12 minutes.
Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar rattled the post with a fine low drive but Wolfsburg struck four times in the second half with Robin Knoche tapping in from close range and Vieirinha shaking off two defenders to fire past keeper Timo Hildebrand.
Defender Naldo added another in the 67th and Stefan Kutschke completed their first win of the season on the final whistle.
Hoffenheim, which needed a relegation playoff to stay up last season, crushed Hamburg with the visitors scoring four times in a dazzling second half and Frenchman Anthony Modeste grabbing a brace.
The results: VfB Stuttgart 0 lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Schwaab 42-og); VfL Wolfsburg 4 (Knoche 55, Vieirinha 61, Naldo 67, Kutschke 90+1) bt Schalke 04 0; Werder Bremen 1 (Ekici 23) bt Augsburg 0; Freiburg 1 (Freis 71) lost to Mainz 05 2 (Zimling 64, Mueller 68); Hamburg 1 (van der Vaart 44-pen) lost to Hoffenheim 5 (Roberto Firmino 5, 78, Volland 51, Modeste 67, 75); Eintracht Frankfurt 0 lost to Bayern Munich 1 (Mandzukic 13).
