Bayern Top as Flying Dutchman Takes Off

Bayern Munich this week had to wire Deportivo La Coruna 500,000 euros ($622,000) for breaking a clause in the contract of Roy Makaay, but the Dutch international striker more than repaid that outlay, scoring a hat-trick as Bayern crushed Leverkusen 5-2 on Saturday to march to the top of the table.

Leverkusen mauled German champions Bayern 4-1 in the corresponding fixture last season but Makaay ensured Bayern had their revenge with a sensational treble at the BayArena.

"This is the first time I have had a good pre-season at Bayern and it is showing," said Makaay.

Dutchman sends out a warning with hat-trick

Makaay scored twice in the opening 3-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach and took his tally to five in two matches thanks to some generous Bayer defending. He twisted Brazilian international Roque Junior inside out with a clever feint to score his first goal in the 11th minute and then scored twice in three minutes (57, 60) to take the match ball.

"The 5-2 result was a fair reflection," declared Bayern coach Felix Magath. "Roy Makaay showed his class -- he is in good shape after a great pre-season."

After former Bayer star Michael Ballack opened the scoring, powering home a perfectly-placed shot into the corner of the net in the third minute, it was over to the Flying Dutchman to take center stage. Makaay even had time to set up Iranian international midfielder Ali Karimi for his first Bundesliga goal after 35 minutes.

Karimi gets his first Bundesliga goal

An intelligent header from the Netherlands star left Karimi, dubbed 'the Asian Maradona', with the simple task of volleying into an empty net to score on his full debut for the club just three minutes after Bayer briefly looked to be getting into the match with Dimitar Berbatov scoring a penalty. Bayer's Marko Babic got a late consolation eight minutes from time.

Schalke 04 are considered Bayern's main challengers for the 2006 Bundesliga title and they kept within striking distance with a 2-1 win over derby rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Kuranyi at the double as Schalke sink BVB

A capacity 81,264 crowd at the Westfalen Stadium produced an atmosphere befitting the occasion but the majority went home disappointed as German international Kevin Kuranyi scored twice to cancel out Ebi Smolarek's controversial opener.

"You can see that he (Kuranyi) has been getting better with every week," lauded Schalke manager Ralf Rangnick.

Schalke were indebted to Brazilian-born Kuranyi after going behind on 17 minutes when Smolarek put Dortmund in front although the goal was controversial to say the least.

Cupping his arms like a volleyball player Smolarek controlled a cross with his forearm but, with everyone expecting a foul to be awarded, referee Herbert Fandel waved play on and he scrambled the ball in.

Schalke were livid but responded the best possible way with Kuranyi equalizing five minutes later with his first goal for the club. The second was not long in coming and Kuranyi's 58th minute effort downed Dortmund.

The 2002 German champions have failed to beat their old foes at home since November 1998 and the long wait goes on.

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Van der Vaart wraps up impressive HSV win

Elsewhere SV Hamburg continue to impress under the guidance of Thomas Doll recording a 2-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld to move second in the table.

Sergei Barbarez broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 79th minute and Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart, a 5.1 million euro signing from Ajax, grabbed his first Bundesliga goal in the final minute.

"I knew whoever scored the first goal would win the game," said Hamburg chief Doll. "Fortunately that was us."

Young German striker Mike Hanke scored his first Bundesliga goal for Wolfsburg in the 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday. The Wolves, who were reduced to ten men when Argentine Diego Klimowicz was sent off just before half-time for mocking the referee, held on until Borussia secured a point with an injury time equalizer.

Hertha Berlin recorded their first home win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. After a barren first half, Hertha went ahead through a long range effort from Oliver Schröder. The win was assured when Eintracht's Arie van Lent he headed the ball into his own net, minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Kasierslautern hit newly promoted MSV Duisburg for five but struggled to overcome the newcomers who hit back to equalize three times after the home side displayed some erratic defending. Halil Altintop hit a hat-trick for Kaiserslautern while Uwe Möhrle scored twice for promoted Duisburg.

Mintal saves Nuremberg at the death

Nuremberg's Marek Mintal struck a 90th-minute equalizer after the home side had trailed Hanover 96 for the entire match to earn his side a 1-1 draw. Last year's top scorer swept in a left foot shot to cancel out the eighth minute goal by Hanover's Thomas Brdaric.

Stuttgart coach Giovanni Trapattoni's disappointing start to the season continued as VfB were beaten 3-2 at home to newly promoted Cologne on Sunday.

Markus Feulner and Albert Streit, who struck two in seven minutes, once again highlighted Stuttgart's defensive problems which were compounded by a missed penalty by Stuttgart's Silvio Meissner. Goals from Marco Streller and Christian Tiffert were not enough to beat Cologne, down to 10 men after 71 minutes following a red card to Andrew Sinkala.

Excellent goals by Bremen's strike duo of Ivan Klasnic and Miroslav Klose gave Bremen their second successive victory with a 2-0 win over Mainz on Sunday. The victory put them equal on points with Bayern Munich, who lead the championship on goal difference. An assured defense also dealt capably with an always-lively Mainz.