Bundesliga Wrap: Bayern Cruise, Aubameyang Bags 3, Hertha Hammer Frankfurt

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund opened their 2013-14 Bundesliga campaigns in style this weekend. Bayern eased to a 3-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach, and Borussia Dortmund stuffed four past Augsburg, three of which came from summer signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Elsewhere in the German top flight, Hertha Berlin kicked things off with a 6-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover surprised Wolfsburg with a 2-0 victory at HDI-Arena. There were also matches played at Rhein-Neckar-Arena, where Hoffenheim hosted Nurnberg, and at Eintracht-Stadion, where promoted Braunschweig entertained Werder Bremen.

On Sunday two crackers were played, with Stuttgart surprised away from home and a scintillating goalfest taking place at the Veltins Arena.

Let’s take a brief tour of the weekend's Bundesliga action.

(All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.)

Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach

It took just 12 minutes for reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich to open their 2013-14 account.

Running into space behind the Monchengladbach defense, Arjen Robben needed only the slightest of touches to poke Franck Ribery’s searching cross into goal. And Ribery, who was shortlisted for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award earlier in the week, doubled his assist tally just four minutes later when he set up Mario Mandzukic for what proved to be the match-winner.

A Dante own goal with five minutes remaining in the opening period seemed to allow the guests a foothold in the match, but after a bizarre sequence in which Alvaro Dominguez conceded two penalties in succession, Bayern left-back David Alaba stepped up to round out the scoring after Thomas Muller’s initial spot kick had been stopped by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Shots: Bayern Munich 26-11 Borussia Monchengladbach

Passing: Bayern Munich 92%-81% Borussia Monchengladbach

Possession: Bayern Munich 61%-39% Borussia Monchengladbach

Hertha Berlin 6-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt had actually pulled themselves to within a goal near the end of the first half thanks to Alexander Meier’s successful penalty conversion, but a disastrous 13-minute spell midway through the second period proved their undoing in the German capital.

Ahead 2-0 shortly after the hour mark through Adrian Ramos and John Brooks, Hertha Berlin took a 2-1 lead into the break. But they were out of sight by the 71st minute thanks to a Sami Allagui brace and Ramos’ second of the night.

Brazilian midfielder Ronny rounded out the rout in the 89th minute to send Hertha top of the table heading into Sunday.

Shots: Hertha Berlin 16-10 Eintracht Frankfurt

Passing: Hertha Berlin 80%-83% Eintracht Frankfurt

Possession: Hertha Berlin 40%-60% Eintracht Frankfurt

Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Freiburg

Son Heung-Min scored what proved to be the winner in his first Bundesliga match for Bayer Leverkusen since completing a summer move from Hamburg.

Almost immediately following the restart, at which time Stefan Kiessling and Mike Hanke had the two sides knotted at a goal apiece, the South Korea international finished from in close with his left foot after he and teammate Sidney Sam had caught their opponents on the break.

Sam got his name on the scoresheet in the 52nd minute when he finished inside the far post after being set up nicely by Kiessling.

Shots: Bayer Leverkusen 18-8 Freiburg

Passing: Bayer Leverkusen 77%-80% Freiburg

Possession: Bayer Leverkusen 45%-55% Freiburg

Hannover 2-0 Wolfsburg

Leon Andreasen had Hannover a goal to the good after 17 minutes thanks to a neat setup from teammate Mame Biram Diouf. But it was a pair of Wolfsburg ejections that, needless to say, affected the game more than anything else.

By the 52nd minute, the guests were down to nine men. Maximilian Arnold was shown a straight red shortly after the half-hour mark for a vicious foul on Karim Haggui. Timm Klose was issued his marching orders after picking up a second yellow just seven minutes after the restart.

Despite the numerical advantage, it would take Hannover until the 84th minute to seal the three points through Szabolcs Huszti’s left-footed drive.

Shots: Hannover 20-15 Wolfsburg

Passing: Hannover 85%-79% Wolfsburg

Possession: Hannover 49%-51% Wolfsburg

Hoffenheim 2-2 Nurnberg

Goals on either side of the break from David Abraham and Anthony Modeste seemed to have Hoffenheim cruising to the three points in their first match of the season, but visiting Nurnberg denied them the victory after scoring twice in just three minutes shortly after the restart.

Nine minutes had ticked off the referee’s watch following the opening kick of the second half when Mike Frantz met Markus Feulner’s cross with a header from the centre of the box that evaded goalkeeper Koen Casteels. Just three minutes later, level terms were restored thanks to Daniel Ginczek, who met Josip Drmic’s ball on the counter-attack and slotted it inside the far post.

Shots: Hoffenheim 23-12 Nurnberg

Passing: Hoffenheim 75%-73% Nurnberg

Possession: Hoffenheim 54%-46% Nurnberg

Augsburg 0-4 Borussia Dortmund

Augsburg were not four goals poorer than Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s signature fixture, but despite promising spells to end the first half and begin the second, they were simply not able to finish their chances. Meanwhile, Dortmund proved clinical in front of goal.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in particular, tortured Augsburg goalkeeper Mohamed Amsif.

Acquired from Saint-Etienne during the summer, the Gabon international opened his Dortmund account in the 24th minute when, following an accurate Marcel Schmelzer cross, he beat his marker to the ball and headed it into the back of the net.

He doubled his account shortly after the hour mark with a hard, low shot that beat Amsif inside the far post. His treble was completed 13 minutes later following a well-timed run to Robert Lewandowski’s ball that allowed him to round Amsif before slotting the ball into the open net.

Lewandowski rounded out the scoring from the penalty spot with just two minutes to play in normal time after Jonas Hofmann drew a foul off Jan-Ingwer Callsen Bracker inside the area.

Shots: Augsburg 11-13 Borussia Dortmund

Passing: Augsburg 68%-80% Borussia Dortmund

Possession: Augsburg 43%-57% Borussia Dortmund

Eintracht Braunschweig 0-1 Werder Bremen

Promoted Braunschweig put up an admirable fight at home to Werder Bremen Saturday. But they were eventually undone by a Zlatko Junuzovic blast high over goalkeeper Marjan Petkovic following an accurate Sebastian Prodl pass.

Back in the Bundesliga after a 28-year absence, the Lions had their first chance of the match after just eight minutes when Ken Reichel forced a save out of Sebastian Mielitz. With just two minutes remaining, the hosts were denied an equalizer when Jan Hochscheidt’s left-footer was blocked by a defender.

Shots: Braunschweig 16-16 Werder Bremen

Passing: Braunschweig 74.9%-69.8% Werder Bremen

Possession: Braunschweig 47%-53% Werder Bremen

Mainz 3-2 Stuttgart

Mainz kicked off their Bundesliga campaign with a home win over Stuttgart, and the game will be remembered for some calamitous defending, goalkeeping and offside decisions.

Nicolai Muller opened the scoring after Stuttgart's defence effectively tackled themselves in an effort to pave the way through, then Shinji Okazaki scored a sublimed strike on the turn but was clearly offside in the buildup.

Muller score Mainz's third with a weak effort that Sven Ulreich should have saved, and Martin Harnik's late effort served only as a consolation.

Shots: Mainz 9-15 Stuttgart

Passing: Mainz 76.2%-77.3% Stuttgart

Possession: Mainz 49%-51% Stuttgart

Schalke 3-3 Hamburg

An electric tie at the Veltins Arena finished 3-3.

Schalke took just two minutes to open the scoring through Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but were pegged back by goals from Rafael van der Vaart, Maximilian Beister and an injury that forced key player Julian Draxler off.

The hosts were back on level terms just before halftime courtesy of a towering header from Huntelaar, but Hamburg retook the lead within minutes of the restart from a corner.

Adam Szalai bundled home the equaliser and Schalke pressed, harried and tried to force the issue but missed a glut of chances and settled for a point.

Shots: Schalke 19-16 Hamburg

Passing: Schalke 78.1%-70.3% Hamburg

Possession: Schalke 55.5%-44.5% Hamburg