Japan international Shinji Kagawa sparkled on his return to Borussia Dortmund, scoring one goal for the Ruhr Valley club and helping set up another in a 3-1 win over Freiburg yesterday.
Champions Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 2-0, with Frenchman Franck Ribery scoring on his season debut as they prepare for their Champions League match against Manchester City this week.
The 25-year-old Kagawa, who had spent two seasons at Manchester United after winning consecutive Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012 with Dortmund, was welcomed back with applause and he instantly rewarded the fans.
First, he set up Kevin Gross-kreutz, whose cutback found Adrian Ramos for the lead.
Dubbed the ‘Lost son’ by the German media, the attacking midfielder fired in from 12 metres in the 41st minute as hundreds of Japanese flags were unfurled in the stands.
Substitute Pierre-Emerick Auba-meyang completed Dortmund’s successful dress rehearsal for their Champions League group opener against Arsenal, with a scintillating 50-metre sprint and a superb chip for their third of the afternoon in the 78th minute.
Freiburg scored a late consolation goal with Oliver Sorg.
Dortmund have six points from three games, one behind Bayern who never hit top form against Stuttgart.
The Bavarians, missing several players through injury, were rarely threatened and Mario Goetze made the most of a bad Stuttgart clearance to fire in for the lead in the 27th minute.
France’s Ribery, who missed the World Cup with a back injury, came on for Goetze in the 68th and doubled their lead with a low shot from a tight angle five minutes before the break.
Late Friday, Bayer Leverkusen drew 3-3 against Werder Bremen in a rollercoaster game to see their perfect start to the season end following two victories.
It was the first draw for Lever-kusen in any competitive game this season, after they won their German Cup first round match as well as both legs of their Cham-pions League play-off against FC Copenhagen along with their Bundesliga wins.
Leverkusen remain top of the table on seven points along with Bayern Munich.
Results
B. Munich 2 - Stuttgart 0
B. Dortmund 3 - Freiburg 1
B. M’gladbach 4 - Schalke 1
H. Berlin 1 - Mainz 3
Hoffenheim 1 - Wolfsburg 1
Paderborn 0 - Cologne 0
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Leverkusen | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| B. Munich | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| B. Dortmund | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| B. M’gladbach | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| Paderborn | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| Mainz | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| Hoffenheim | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| Cologne | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| E. Frankfurt | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Hanover | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| W. Bremen | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
| Wolfsburg | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Freiburg | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Hamburg | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| H. Berlin | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Schalke | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Stuttgart | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Augsburg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Playing today
E. Frankfurt vs Augsburg - 15.30
Hanover vs Hamburg - 17.30