Dortmund begins Bundesliga with 4-0 win over 'Gladbach

BERLIN (AP) Borussia Dortmund routed Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 at home in its Bundesliga opener Saturday, displaying the kind of tenacious free-flowing football that led the club to back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.

''It was fully deserved. They were much better,'' said Moenchengladbach coach Lucien Favre, whose side will play in the Champions League this season. ''They played with a lot of tempo. They were faster than we were, full stop.''

Under new coach Thomas Tuchel, who took over from Juergen Klopp after the club's difficulties last season, Dortmund dominated possession and chances from the start.

''We knew we had to play to the limit from the start,'' said Tuchel, who has led Dortmund to four wins from four competitive games with 12 goals scored and none conceded.

Marco Reus scored against his former side in the 15th minute, hammering the ball inside Yann Sommer's near post after being set up by Japan international Shinji Kagawa.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it 2-0 with a glancing header to Marcel Schmelzer's inch-perfect cross in the 21st and set up Mkhitaryan after sprinting down the right 12 minutes later. New signing Julian Weigl won the ball and Ilkay Gundogan sent it on for Aubameyang to chase.

The 19-year-old Weigl, who arrived from second-division 1860 Munich, was a surprise inclusion and impressed on his Bundesliga debut.

''I congratulated him on his performance,'' Tuchel said.

Mkhitaryan, who had a goal ruled out for offside before Reus broke the deadlock, sealed the win with his second goal in the 50th, set up by Reus.

Earlier, Schalke started its Bundesliga season with a 3-0 victory at Werder Bremen on Saturday while promoted Ingolstadt claimed its first top-level win.

Bremen defender Theodor Gebre Selassie scored an own goal with an unstoppable chip in off the underside of the bar while trying to clear Joel Matip's cross in the 34th.

Matip then set up Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 68th and Klaas Jan Huntelaar rounded off the scoring in the 85th after a brilliant run from Leroy Sane.

''The scoreline is a bit deceptive. The whole game wasn't quite so clear,'' Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter said.

Ingolstadt defeated Mainz 1-0 away thanks to Lukas Hinterseer's 66th-minute winner, Hertha Berlin won 1-0 at Augsburg as both sides finished with 10 men, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 and Darmstadt marked its return to the Bundesliga with a 2-2 draw at home with Hannover.

Defending champion Bayern Munich kicked off the season with a 5-0 win over Hamburger SV on Friday.

Solomon Kalou's 48th-minute penalty was enough for Hertha, which was grateful to goalkeeper Thomas Kraft for a great save as well as the crossbar in injury time.

Hoffenheim midfielder Steven Zuber beat the offside trap to score in the fifth minute but Stefan Kiessling equalized for Leverkusen just before the break and Julian Brandt claimed the winner in the 71st.

''It wasn't easy for us,'' said Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt, whose side next visits Lazio for the first leg of their Champions League qualification playoff on Tuesday.