体坛英语资讯：Top teams earn victories at German Bundesliga opener

BERLIN, Aug. 6 -- Stuttgart humbled Schalke 3-0 while Wolfsburg defeated Cologne 3-0 on the opening day of 2011-2017 Bundesliga on Saturday.

Stuttgart took down Schalke with a blatant 3-0 defeat in front of outsold Mercedes-Benz Arena. Stuttgart needed two set pieces to take a 2-0 lead. Stuttgart striker Cacau nodded home a prolonged corner to open the scoring with 37 minutes into the match.

Schalke pressed for the equalizer but was punished by Stuttgart with the 2-0 lead as striker Martin Harnik nodded home a free kick at the last post with 11 minutes into second half. One minute before final whistle Stuttgart striker Shinji Okazaki hammered the ball from 16 meters home for the 3-0 win.

Cologne suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat in front of home crowd at Rhein-Energie Stadium against Wolfsburg.

Former Cologne striker Patrick Helmes opened the scoring for his new side at the 17th minute when he poked the ball from close distance.

Wolfsburg remained dominant but ineffective in front of Cologne goal area. Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic weakened his team additionally when he was sent off as he got his second yellow card of the match.

At the 85th minute "Wolves" defender Marcel Schaefer curled home a corner to double the lead.

Hannover and Hoffenheim staged an exciting match scoring three goals in 30 minutes. The match started with a strange goal as Hannover striker Jan Schlaudraff netted a direct free kick goal into top left whilst Hoffenheim goalkeeper Tom Starke was still organizing his wall.

However only three minutes later Hoffenheim midfielder Sejad Salihovic converted a penalty to equalize the score.

With 30 minutes into the match referee Thorsten Kienhoefer awarded the next penalty this time for Hannover. Striker Mohammed Abdellaoue stepped up to convert the penalty for the 2-1 win, as Hoffenheim remained unable to overcome Hannover' s well-positioned defence.

Bremen defeated Kaiserslautern in an average match owing a brace by striker Markus Rosenberg with goals at the 60th and 81st minutes.

Bundesliga first timer Augsburg craved out a 2-2 tie against Freiburg thanks to the effort by striker Sascha Moelders.

Berlin suffered a neat 1-0 loss at the opener against Nuremberg due to the late decider by striker Tomas Pekhart.

Already on Friday defending Bundesliga champion Dortmund stunned Hamburg with a powerful 3-1 performance.

On Sunday, runner up Leverkusen faces Mainz whereas record champion Bayern Munich hosts Monchengladbach.