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Soccer-Schalke crush Werder, Leverkusen also make winning start

BERLIN, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Schalke 04 kicked off their Bundesliga season in style, crushing hosts Werder Bremen 3-0 on Saturday to give new coach Andre Breitenreiter a winning debut with the Ruhr valley club. Werder's Theodor Gebre Selassie gave the visitors an unexpected lead when he chipped the ball over his own keeper as he tried to clear in front of striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting slotted in from a superb Joel Matip through ball in the 68th minute and Huntelaar completed their win after Leroy Sane charged forward and cut back for the Dutchman, who became the fourth best Bundesliga scorer for the club. With former Werder forward Franco Di Santo booed with every touch of the ball by the home crowd, Werder battled on but could not mount a serious comeback against a rock solid Schalke backline. Bayer Leverkusen came from a goal down to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 with Stefan Kiessling and Julian Brandt on target in either half after Steven Zuber had given the visitors a fifth-minute lead. Marcel Heller's double strike, including a sensational 70-metre solo run for his first goal, was not enough to give promoted Darmstadt 98 a winning return to the Bundesliga after 33 years, drawing 2-2 with Hanover 96. The 29-year-old winger intercepted a backpass and rounded keeper Ron-Robert Zieler for his second against Hanover, who equalised for a second time thanks to a Aytac Sulu own goal. Hertha Berlin edged past Augsburg 1-0 with both teams finishing with 10 players after the dismissal of Augsburg's Raul Bobadilla with a second yellow card and Roy Beerens following suit midway through the second half. Promoted Ingolstadt did it better, stunning hosts Mainz 05 1-0. Borussia Dortmund entertain Borussia Moenchengladbach, who were third last season, later on Saturday, while VfL Wolfsburg take on Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. Champions Bayern Munich demolished Hamburg SV 5-0 on Friday in their season opener. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)