Dortmund opens with 4-0 win at Augsburg

BERLIN (AP) — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat trick on his Bundesliga debut to give Borussia Dortmund a 4-0 win at Augsburg in the opening round of the German league on Saturday.

Gabon international Aubameyang — a 13 million-euro ($17 million) offseason signing from French side Saint-Etienne — opened the scoring in the 24th minute, made the game safe in the 66th, and added another in the 79th before Robert Lewandowski scored from a penalty kick with four minutes remaining.

"We got great goals and finished the game with confidence. Not many win 4-0 here. That makes me proud," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said.

Hertha Berlin celebrated its return to the Bundesliga with a 6-1 rout of visiting Eintracht Frankfurt, thanks to two goals each from Adrian Ramos and Sami Allagui and one each from Ronny and German-American defender John Anthony Brooks.

Bayer Leverkusen won 3-1 at home over Freiburg, Hannover beat nine-man Wolfsburg 2-0 at home, and Nuremberg drew 2-2 at Hoffenheim.

Zlatko Junuzovic's late strike gave Werder Bremen a 1-0 win at Eintracht Braunschweig in the late game, denying the home side a winning return to the Bundesliga after 28 years.

"Something was missing for 28 years," proclaimed a large banner before kickoff, but the closest Braunschweig came to scoring was in the 64th, when Ken Reichel's shot crashed off the crossbar. Bremen keeper Sebastian Mielitz just got his fingertips to the ball.

Junuzovic scored in the 82nd, lifting the ball over the goalkeeper against the run of play.

Braunschweig's hopes of an equalizer were dashed when Jan Hochscheidt's shot was blocked on the line in the 88th.

"We created enough chances in the second half. It's just a shame we couldn't make more of them," said Braunschweig captain Dennis Kruppke.

The 24-year-old Aubameyang became only the sixth player in the Bundesliga to score a hat trick on his debut. He beat a defender to meet Marcel Schmelzer's cross with a header beyond the helpless Augsburg 'keeper.

Marco Reus set up his second, which Aubameyang curled around the goalkeeper inside the far post.

Aubameyang rounded the goalkeeper for his third, tucking the ball into the empty net, after Lewandowski had played the ball into his path.

"Aubameyang was put to great use today. I'm not surprised about what he offers, but that all the balls go in already. It's a very good start," Klopp said.

Lewandowski added a fourth with an emphatic penalty, after Jonas Hofmann was fouled in the area.

Despite the scoreline, Dortmund found it hard to break down the stubborn home side.

Augsburg might have equalized in the first half but for a goal-line clearance from Sven Bender, while reserve goalkeeper Mitch Langerak pulled off a great save from Raphael Holzhauser.

Langerak maintained his record of 11 wins from 11 competitive games for Dortmund.

"Of course we're disappointed. We imagined and hoped for it to go a little differently," said Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl. "Our mistakes were punished ruthlessly."

Ramos scored Hertha's first goal back in the Bundesliga following a well-worked counterattack in the 18th, and Brooks made it 2-0 by shooting through a host of players in the 32nd.

Alexander Meier pulled one back from the penalty spot five minutes later, but Allagui scored twice in as many minutes to decide the game with half an hour remaining, before Ramos and then Ronny completed the rout.

"The performance was sensational. Now we have the first three points, we can enjoy the game a little bit. But we'll be back in everyday life very quickly. We can still improve," Hertha coach Jos Luhukay said.

It was the first time since December 2004 that Hertha scored six goals in a Bundesliga game. The home side also hit the crossbar three times in the first half.

"It's hard for me to analyze such a game," Frankfurt coach Armin Veh said.

Freiburg striker Mike Hanke cancelled out Stefan Kiessling's opening goal for Leverkusen, but Son Heung-min scored his first Bundesliga goal for Leverkusen just after the break and Sidney Sam secured the win in the 52nd.

Leon Andreasen and Szabolcs Huszti scored for Hannover, either side of the sendings off of Maximilian Arnold and Timm Klose for Wolfsburg.

Mike Frantz and Daniel Ginczek drew Nuremberg level at Hoffenheim, which had gone ahead through David Abraham and Anthony Modeste.

The home side was left to rue a goal that wasn't given in first half injury time, when the ball came back out over the line due to the spin from Kevin Volland's lob over the goalkeeper.

"It's annoying that such a goal was 'stolen' but I don't want to accuse anyone. It's hard for the linesman to see. It was hard for me to see," Volland said.

Referee Thorsten Kinhoefer said the match officials realized the mistake at halftime.

"Where people judge, mistakes happen. It's very annoying that we made this mistake today," Kinhoefer said.