Leverkusen on top

Bayern rolls 2-0 over Bochum in Makaay debut

BERLIN (AP) -- Bayern Munich rolled to a 2-0 victory against Bochum Saturday in the Bundesliga but Dutch forward Roy Makaay failed to score in his much-anticipated debut.

Makaay left the pitch after 77 minutes, having just one attempt and failing to click with his teammates. His pass in the 21st minute, however, set up Bayern's first goal through Claudio Pizarro.

Makaay, who scored 29 goals last season for La Coruna, was satisfied with his debut in front of 63,000 at Munich's Olympiastadion, including 10,000 countrymen.

"We won 2-0 so I'm happy. The team has to get used to me and I have to get used to them," Makaay said.

Makaay was caught offsides four times in the first half, and though teammates tried to feed him passes, the timing was off with the Dutch striker brought in to help Bayern capture the Champions League.

Sebastian Deisler scored the second goal, a powerful free kick from 30 meters in the 26th minute that knocked away the diving 'keeper's hand.

Bayern finished the day third in the table, while Bayer Leverkusen stayed top with the league's only perfect record of three wins in as many rounds, this time ripping Hannover 4-0.

Franca, a Brazilian who was a bust for Leverkusen last season, scored one goal and set up the rest as the team continued its remarkable turnaround from last year's relegation battle.

German World Cup player Oliver Neuville, another rejuvenated player, finished two goals with some acrobatic moves.

"Soccer players are like children -- they have to have fun," said Leverkusen coach Klaus Augenthaler, explaining why he's unbeaten in five matches since taking over the talented underachieving team last season.

Dortmund held second as Brazilian forward Marcio Amoroso woke up his teammates by volleying home a 46th minute goal in a 3-1 victory against 1860 Munich in front of 76,500 at Westfalenstadion.

But Dortmund was booed for its lackluster first half before coming alive after the Brazilian forward's goal. Amoroso then added his league high fourth score from the spot in the 56th before Jan Koller made it 3-0 five minutes later.

Francis Kioyo scored a consolation goal for 1860 three minutes before end.

In other matches, Hertha Berlin remained scoreless with a 0-0 draw against Freiburg, Stuttgart edged Moenchengladbach 1-0, Rostock thrashed Frankfurt 3-0 and Bremen slipped past Kaiserslautern 1-0 on a goal by French player Johan Micoud.

Makaay's first ball contact led to a goal for Munich, which as usual, didn't have to exert much effort to win in the Bundesliga.

The Dutch forward sent a smooth pass out to Jens Jeremies, who was racing down the right side and crossed to Pizarro, who was through and side-footed in the easy finish.

Pizarro has scored in all three Munich matches and pushed Giovane Elber -- who had a share of the league's marksman honors last year -- onto the bench.

Makaay, no matter how rough the transition, will get several weeks to prove himself after the Bayern shelled out a club record 19 million euros (US$21 million) for the transfer fee.

"We brought him here to score goals. But we have time to work him in -- as you can see the team's play didn't suffer with him on the pitch," said Bayern club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Berlin, predicted to be one of the league's top teams, set a team record by going scoreless for 270 minutes.

"I'm not going to talk about a blown start," Hertha coach Huub Stevens said. "The goals will come, whether its the next game or not."

 

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