DPA
Berlin
Freiburg started life without long-serving coach Christian Streich with a 3-1 comeback win in their Bundesliga opener against last season’s runners-up VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
Coach Julian Schuster probably thought his debut wouldn’t go well when Ermedin Demirovic gave Stuttgart the lead with only two minutes played.
But Lukas Kübler equalized in the 27th and Ritsu Doan in the 54th put Freiburg ahead to give Schuster a successful start in his new job.
Kübler completed a brace and put the game to bed with a header in the 61st.
“We didn’t get off to a good start in the game, we definitely expected things to be different. The reaction was all the more pleasant,” Schuster said.
Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness said that his team lost control of the game after Kubler’s equalizer and that his players “need to deal better with difficult phases.”
RB Leipzig, meanwhile, will be happy to have signed Antonio Nusa this summer after the newcomer came from the bench and scored the winner in the 1-0 against VfL Bochum after less than four minutes on the pitch.
Nusa fired the ball under the dive of Patrick Drewes in the 59th after Xavi had a shot blocked.
Substitute Jamie Gittens scored twice to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 2-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt as former player Nuri Sahin made his debut as coach in the league.
In a tight game, Gittens broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute, whipping the ball into the top corner to score a beautiful goal, and put the game to bed in the third minute of stoppage time.
“Happy right now to score a few goals, especially in this game, first of the season, it’s very important. I was not easy,” Gittens told broadcasters Sky.
Former Dortmund midfielder Sahin returned to the club in January as assistant coach and has now taken over from Edin Terzic.
Dortmund fans used the match to protest against the controversial sponsorship deal with Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest arms maker.
“We will not be harnessed to your armour,” said a banner displayed at the start of the second half, while another read: “Money first, values second.”
As part of the demonstrations, supporters also put a cardboard-made tank outside the Signal Iduna Park stadium.
Kiel with strong Bundesliga debut despite defeat Promoted Holstein Kiel are playing their first-ever Bundesliga season and are the first club from Germany’s northern-most state of Schleswig-Holstein in the top flight.
They made their debut with a 3-2 defeat at Hoffenheim, who had Andrej Kramari? scoring a hat-trick, but Kiel will be able to take some positives.
They had their chances, but were thwarted by an inspired Oliver Baumann.
Kiel celebrated their first goals in the first division thanks to Alexander Bernhardsson and Shuto Machino, but also collected their first red card when substitute Andu Kelati was sent off.
“I think we’ve put in a performance that we can build on - but we’re far from finished yet,” coach Marcel Rapp said.
Elsewhere, Werder Bremen were held to a 2-2 draw at Augsburg and Mainz played out a 1-1 draw with Union Berlin.
On Friday, Florian Wirtz scored in stoppage time to give champions Bayer Leverkusen a 3-2 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Record Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich visit VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Black armbands in memory of victims of Solingen knife attack Following the fatal knife attack in the German western city of Solingen on Friday, players wore black armbands during Saturday’s matches in memory of the victims.
Solingen is some 60 kilometres from Dortmund, where the home team hosted their league opener against Frankfurt.
The fatal stabbing left three dead and eight injured. The attack, which drew condemnation from across Germany, occurred as the city was celebrating its 650th anniversary. The police are still searching for the perpetrator.
“I didn’t get any sleep,” said Leipzig midfielder Kevin Kampl, who was born in Solingen.
“Of course you’re extremely worried and you’re stunned that something like this is happening in your home town, that there are fatalities and so many seriously injured people. Of course I hope they get this monster as soon as possible,” he said.
Kampl’s parents still live in the city and the player was able to contact them during Friday night.
