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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 AUGUST 2014 49 LAST season's runners-up suffered a shock 2-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen at the start of their Bun- desliga season. Winger Bellarabi took nine seconds to score the opener for the visitors with Dortmund below par despite the return of Marco Reus after an injury that saw him miss the World Cup. Stefan Kiessling scored the visitors' second goal in stoppage time to se- cure victory with Bellarabi pouncing on an Erik Durm mistake to set up the forward. Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp, who set a club record for being in charge for a seventh straight season, was missing eight players through in- jury and it showed. Fellow Champions League competi- tors Leverkusen, buoyed by their early goal, looked livelier throughout and confirmed their good form after also winning their Champions League first leg qualifier in Copenhagen mid- week. The hosts, who had won their pre- vious three season openers, and also clinched the German Super Cup against Bayern Munich earlier this month, were far too slow and had problems dealing with Leverkusen's pressing. Leverkusen central defender Omer Toprak allowed little at the back while the hugely talented Hakan Calhanog- lu, signed from Hamburg SV, was a constant source of danger with long crosses and set pieces. Dortmund's best chance came six minutes from time but keeper Bernd Leno spectacularly saved Matthias Ginter's header to give coach Roger Schmidt a winning start on the Leverkusen bench. Hanover 96 stunned Schalke 04 with two goals in three minutes to win their Bundesliga opener 2-1 and pile pressure on Schalke coach Jens Keller following their embarrassing German Cup exit earlier this week. Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar completed a quick break for the visi- tors two minutes after the restart to give Schalke the lead and raise hopes of banishing Monday's first round de- feat by third-tier Dynamo Dresden. Hanover, who had Germany keep- er Ron-Robert Zieler to thank for keeping them in the game, levelled through Edgar Prib in the 67th after he connected with a Leonardo Bitten- court cross in their first real chance of the game. New arrival Joselu's thundering drive in the 70th completed an unex- pected comeback for Hanover, with Schalke having only themselves to blame for failing to hold on to their lead. Hoffenheim also got off to a win- ning league start after scoring twice in two minutes through new signing Adam Szalai and Tarik Elyounoussi to beat Augsburg 2-0. Hertha Berlin also took a two-goal lead with a brace from Julian Schieber but squandered it in the second half to settle for a 2-2 draw with visitors Werder Bremen. Eintracht Frankfurt gave new coach Thomas Schaaf a winning debut after edging Freiburg 1-0 courtesy of a first half Haris Seferovic strike. Hamburg SV, who needed a rel- egation playoff to stay up last season, drew 0-0 with promoted Cologne. Champions Bayern Munich made a winning start to their league season, edging past VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 on Friday. Sport FOOTBALL (+356) 800 737 70 Freephone: cabs t minivans t vip transport t luxury coaches t vintage buses 2138 9575 / 9921 5286 info@cabs.com.mt w w w . c a b s . c o m . m t A review of Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League EVERTON threw away two valuable points at Goodison Park as Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud scored a last- minute header to secure a dramatic 2-2 draw. Roberto Martinez's side looked to be coasting to an easy 2-0 win thanks to goals from Seamus Cole- man and Steven Naismith, but their defence crumbled in the final min- utes to gift the Gunners a point. First, Aaron Ramsey bundled home a Santi Cazorla cross and then, with 30 seconds to go, Giroud headed past Tim Howard thanks to some sloppy marking from Sylvain Distin. It was a cruel blow to Everton, who really should have secured an early blow over their rivals in the hunt for Champions League qualification. Diego Costa opened the scoring as Chelsea made it two wins in a row to open theirPremier League campaign with a 2-0 triumph over Leicester at Stamford Bridge. The Spain striker, who opened his account with a goal on debut in the Blues' 3-1 opening victory at Burnley on Monday night, pounced again from inside the penalty box to put Jose Mourinho's side ahead against the promoted visitors just after the hour. Eden Hazard added a second goal with an effort 13 minutes from time to put the result beyond doubt, with the biggest cheer of the day reserved for the late introduction of Didier Drogba in place of Costa. Nathan Dyer's goal earned Swan- sea a 1-0 victory against Burnley at the Liberty Stadium. The winger latched on to a superb through-ball from Gylfi Sigurdsson and coolly slotted home midway through the first half to continue the Swans' 100 per cent start following last weekend's success at Manches- ter United. Managerless Crystal Palace went down 3-1 at home to West Ham. Mauro Zarate, Stewart Downing and Carlton Cole were the men on target for Sam Allardyce's side, who notched their first victory of the sea- son following their last-gasp home defeat to Tottenham. Marouane Chamakh had halved the deficit for the Eagles just af- ter the break, but it proved to be in vain. Southampton and West Brom re- main in search of their first wins after battling out a goalless draw at St Mary's. This was the first top-flight home game in charge for new Saints boss Ronald Koeman and he left with a point. Ten-man Newcastle registered their first point of the new season af- ter fighting out a 0-0 draw with As- ton Villa in the lunchtime kick-off. The game at Villa Park was one of few real chances, particularly in the first half, with Magpies midfielder Remy Cabella sending one wide when he might have done better. The visitors had further opportuni- ties just after the break, with Daryl Janmaat having a header pushed over by Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and firing a shot just off-target. Magpies substitute and debutant Siem de Jong was then denied by a decent Guzan save towards the end, before Mike Williamson was sent off in the final seconds having collected two yellow cards in quick succes- sion. EVERTON threw away two valuable points at Goodison Park as Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud scored a last- minute header to secure a dramatic blow over their rivals in the hunt for Champions League qualification. Diego Costa opened the scoring as Chelsea made it two wins in a row to the biggest cheer of the day reserved for the late introduction of Didier Drogba in place of Costa. Nathan Dyer's goal earned Swan- notched their first victory of the sea- son following their last-gasp home defeat to Tottenham. Marouane Chamakh had halved Giroud rescues Arsenal as Everton let two-goal lead slip Aaron Ramsey pulled one back for Arsenal Dortmund concede Bundesliga's fastest ever goal Bayer Leverkusen's Karim Belarabi registered the fastest goal in the Bundesliga's 52-year history when he netted after nine seconds in the late game at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday