Leverkusen bask in Bayern beating

Dimitar Berbatov and França each claimed two goals as Bayer 04 Leverkusen shot to the top of the Bundesliga with a decisive 4-1 victory against FC Bayern München as a Kevin Kuranyi hat-trick proved invaluable for VfB Stuttgart at 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Comfortable win
Champions Werder Bremen, the only side to win their opening two fixtures, must wait until Sunday to play VfL Wolfsburg, so either Leverkusen or Bayern could have climbed into first tonight. And from the moment França set up Berbatov to open the scoring on 20 minutes, Leverkusen were on course.

Quickfire goals
Berbatov was the provider for França early in the second half, and the Brazilian swiftly scored again. The third goal in an eight-minute spell came just before the hour when Berbatov registered again, ensuring Michael Ballack's late header was only a consolation as Leverkusen coach Klaus Augenthaler secured his first win against his former club.

Kuranyi delight
Stuttgart are level on seven points with Leverkusen, but Kaisersalutern - yet to get off the mark - made life tough. Kuranyi opened the scoring for the visitors just after the half-hour but Jochen Seitz and Carsten Janker made it 2-1 to Kaiserslautern before the break. However, Kuranyi equalised eight minutes into the second period and claimed a winner nine minutes from time.

Hamburg victory
Kaiserslautern are now bottom - unless Hannover 96 lose heavily to BV Borussia Dortmund tomorrow - after Hamburger SV overcame 1. FC Nürnberg 4-3. Marek Mintal claimed a hat-trick for visitors Nürnberg, but Daniel Van Buyten, Björn Schlicke and Emile Mpenza had already scored for Hamburg when Benjamin Lauth's 86th-minute winner opened their account for the season.

Rostock triumph
FC Schalke 04 may have won the UEFA Intertoto Cup but they have had a mixed domestic start and lost 2-0 at home to FC Hansa Rostock today. Antonio di Salvo scored late in each half - while Schalke had Ailton dismissed just before the break.

Bochum prevail
Schalke's fellow UEFA Cup challengers VfL Bochum 1848 are fourth after overcoming DSC Arminia Bielefeld 2-1 despite Christoph Preuss's sending off. Former Bielefeld striker Mamadou Diabang secured an added-time winner not long after ex-Bochum man Delron Buckley had equalised. Hertha BSC Berlin drew for the third time on the trot as they were held 1-1 by 1. FSV Mainz 05, while VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach's visit to SC Freiburg ended in the same score.