Lewandowski hits hat-trick in Coutinho’s Bayern bow

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick to fire Bayern Munich to a 3-0 victory over Schalke on Saturday as Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho made his Bundesliga debut for the German giants.

Coutinho, on loan from Barcelona, replaced Thomas Mueller in the 57th minute, coming on alongside fellow debutant Ivan Perisic with Bayern already two goals up.

Bayern, who have not lost to Schalke in the league since 2010, took the lead from a penalty on 20 minutes.

English right-back Jonjoe Kenny, on loan to Schalke from Everton, clattered into the back of Kingsley Coman, and Lewandowski slotted home from 12 yards to score against Schalke for the ninth game in a row.

The Polish striker then curled in a spectacular free-kick to double the lead just after half-time.

A resurgent Schalke had several handball penalty appeals turned down as Bayern struggled to maintain control in the second half.

Yet Lewandowski killed the game 15 minutes from time, slipping away from marker Salif Sane to slot home his third.

Meanwhile, an own-goal from Lewis Baker sent Bayer Leverkusen on their way to a 3-1 win over Fortuna Duesseldorf earlier in the day.

Chelsea loanee Baker turned a Kevin Volland cross into his own net after just six minutes.

Charles Aranguiz and Karim Bellarabi added two more in a stylish first-half performance from Champions League qualifiers Leverkusen.

Yet Volland bemoaned his side’s lapse in concentration after Alfredo Morales grabbed a consolation goal for Duesseldorf.

Werder Bremen still have no points from their opening two games after they lost a five-goal thriller to Hoffenheim.

The home side looked comfortable after second-half goals from Ermin Bicakcic and Ihlas Bebou had cancelled out Niclas Fuellkrug’s opener and Bremen had a player sent off.

Yet Yuya Osako drew the visitors level with a slaloming run and fine finish before Pavel Kaderabek’s header three minutes from time sealed a 3-2 win for Hoffenheim.

New Borussia Moenchengladbach boss Marco Rose celebrated his first three points as goals from Stefan Lainer, Alassane Plea and Breel Embolo saw his side come from behind to beat Mainz 3-1.

Freiburg, who thrashed Mainz 3-0 last weekend, picked up a second win in two as they beat promoted side Paderborn 3-1.

In a late Friday encounter, Jadon Sancho inspired a late comeback as a sluggish Borussia Dortmund beat promoted side Cologne 3-1 in their second Bundesliga game of the season.

England international Sancho, 19, brought Dortmund to life in the second half, driving home a much-needed equaliser before grabbing an injury-time assist to seal Dortmund’s comeback.

“We stayed patient, we wanted to play with a bit more tempo in the second half,” Dortmund captain Marco Reus said.

Cologne, celebrating the first home game since their return to the top flight, played with furious energy early on and were rewarded when Dominick Drexler headed in a corner at the far post on 29 minutes.

Dortmund, who got their title charge off to a flying start with a 5-1 win at home to Augsburg last week, looked lacklustre by contrast.

Visitors Dortmund huffed and puffed in the second until Sancho finally smashed down the door on 70 minutes.

Sancho found himself in space as Dortmund took a quickfire corner, and fizzed a low shot inside the far post. The goal was Sancho’s 15th in the League since joining Dortmund in 2017, making him the youngest player to reach that mark in the German league.

The Englishman was then involved at the start of a move which saw Achraf Hakimi head Dortmund in front from close range with four minutes to play.

With Cologne probing for an equaliser deep into injury time, Sancho burst away on the counter-attack and squared the ball for Paco Alcacer to tap in Dortmund’s third.

Agence France-Presse


German League results:

On Saturday: Schalke 0 Bayern Munich 3 (Lewandowski 20-pen, 50, 75); Fortuna Duesseldorf 1 (Morales 82) Bayer Leverkusen 3 (Baker 6-og, Aranguiz 33, Bellarabi 39); Mainz 1 (Quaison 18) Borussia Moenchengladbach 3 (Lainer 31, Plea 78, Embolo 79); Augsburg 1 (Vargas 59) Union Berlin 1 (Andersson 80); Paderborn 1 (Mamba 3) Freiburg 3 (Waldschmidt 21-pen, Petersen 40, Kwon 90+1); Hoffenheim 3 (Bicakcic 54, Bebou 59, Kaderabek 87) Werder Bremen 2 (Fuellkrug 42, Osako 81); On Friday: Cologne 1 (Drexler 29) Borussia Dortmund 3 (Sancho 70, Hakimi 86, Alcacer 90+4)