European football: Dortmund win again but Freiburg top after Gladbach rout

Felix Nmecha scored twice and Fábio Silva grabbed another as Borussia Dortmund won 3-0 at home to promoted Paderborn to continue their perfect start in the Bundesliga. Dortmund’s win made it three from three in the league this campaign, their best start in 11 seasons, dating back to Thomas Tuchel’s time.

Starting up front alongside Serhou Guirassy for the first time this season, Silva converted a clever pass from the Guinean to give the hosts the lead after five minutes. Guirassy had two goals disallowed for offside in the first half but Dortmund were rarely troubled by the toothless visitors, who are yet to score since returning to the top flight.

Nmecha came off the bench to score twice, wrapping up victory for the hosts with a stunning late bicycle kick.

Dortmund captain Nico Schlotterbeck made a surprise for his first match since picking up an ankle injury at the World Cup and told Sky Germany he kept his comeback under wraps. “We just hadn’t communicated that much yet because I didn’t want to,” Schlotterbeck said, adding “I missed it terribly. It was a serious injury but I’m glad to be back now.”

Freiburg thumped a poor Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-0 at home to climb to the top. Yannik Engelhardt and Igor Matanovic netted twice each and Maximilian Eggestein added a late fifth as the hosts sent Gladbach, who finished with 10 men, to the foot of the table.

A 2-2 home draw with Bayer Leverkusen ended Augsburg’s short stint at the top. Augsburg were top after the last matchday for the first time in their history but were held by Leverkusen despite a double from Michael Gregoritsch.

Eintracht Frankfurt won their first match of the campaign with a 3-1 victory at neighbouring Mainz, with Can Uzun’s double either side of a Jonathan Burkardt goal. Frankfurt’s goalkeeper Noah Atubolu kept his remarkable penalty-saving record alive when he stopped a first-half effort from Nadiem Amiri. Atubolu’s save was his sixth in a row, extending his own Bundesliga record.

Hoffenheim won 2-1 at home against Stuttgart thanks to a brace from Adam Hlozek.

In Saturday’s late game, Cologne host Werder Bremen. On Sunday, Bayern Munich travel to promoted Elversberg – who have a !00% record – while RB Leipzig host Hamburg.

In Spain, Alavés missed the chance to go top overnight with a 2-1 defeat at Racing Santander. On Saturday evening, Real Madrid can go second ahead of Alavés and move level on points overnight with Barcelona by beating Rayo Vallecano at home. Barça are at Levante on Sunday afternoon.

In Italy, Lazio – with three wins from three – host unbeaten Milan before Atalanta v Cagliari meet in a game between two sides with two wins and one defeat.