Soccer-Schalke teenager Sane punishes wasteful Stuttgart

BERLIN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Schalke 04 needed the touch of talented teenager Leroy Sane to overcome struggling VfB Stuttgart 1-0 on Sunday and move up to fourth place while leaving their opponents in joint last place after their fifth loss in five games. Stuttgart, German champions in 2007, were by far the better side throughout creating at least a dozen clear scoring chances, but lacking the killer touch and being repeatedly denied by Schalke keeper Ralf Faehrmann they extended their worst ever start to the Bundesliga. Schalke, with a total of 10 attempts on and off target compared to Stuttgart's 26, required one quick break to score with 19-year-old Sane latching on to a deep pass from Max Meyer, shaking off one defender and firing in with his left foot. Faehrmann came to the rescue once more in the 74th minute to deny Daniel Ginczek from point-blank range, further frustrating the hosts, who are on zero points along with Borussia Moenchengladbach who have also lost their opening five league matches. The visitors had more good news with captain Benedikt Hoewedes making his Bundesliga debut this season after a months-long injury break when he came on in the 87th minute. Stuttgart, under new coach Alexander Zorniger, have been extremely unlucky so far this season, playing with plenty of attacking spirit but failing to gain any reward. Champions Bayern Munich took over the top spot with a comfortable 3-0 win over promoted Darmstadt 98 on Saturday to make it five wins out of five games with Borussia Dortmund, three points behind on 12, facing Bayer Leverkusen in a clash of Champions League clubs later on Sunday. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Martyn Herman)