Bundesliga 2012, Week 2: Bayern, Hannover Win Big

Bundesliga: Five Takeaways From Week 2

The second week of the Bundesliga season has passed. What did we learn?

Bayern Munich Vs. Stuttgart, 2012 Bundesliga: Bayern Crush Stuttgart

Bayern Munich moved to the top of the Bundesliga table after a crushing 6-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart on Sunday afternoon.

Stuttgart jumped out to a lead after 25 minutes when Martin Harnik lashed home a cross from Arthur Boka. Unfortunately for Stuttgart, this was the last positive of the match.

Bayern equalized just six minutes later. Mario Mandzukic crossed the ball into Thomas Müller, and the German international volleyed the ball toward the goal. The shot was saved by Sven Ulreich, but Müller beat everyone to the rebound and scored. Bayern took the lead just one minute later. Stuttgart's Shinji Okazaki was caught in possession by Luiz Gustavo, and he fed the ball to Toni Kroos. The midfielder let loose a shot from just outside the penalty area that went into the top of the net. Bayern took the 2-1 lead just two minutes after being down 0-1.

Stuttgart were minutes from going into the half only down one goal when Gustavo unleashed a 30 yard rocket that Ulreich could do nothing about.

If Stuttgart though the two goals in two minutes in the first half were bad, then they were in for a rude awakening at the start of the second half.

Müller's shot was saved by Ulreich in the 47th minute, but Mandzukic was on hand to quickly put in the rebound. There were no defenders around the Croatian when he scored the goal.

In the 49th minute, Mandzukic saw his shot saved by Ulreich, and this time Müller was there to head home the rebound. Again, there were no Stuttgart players in sight, and if Müller didn't head the ball, Franck Ribery was right next to him to score also.

Bayern scored their sixth goal just two minutes later in the 51st minute. Müller crossed the ball into the area, and Bastian Schweinsteiger was there to head the ball into the net.

New Bayern signing Javi Martinez came on as a late second half substitute to get his first taste of playing at the Allianz Arena. The 6-1 victory is Bayern's largest ever over Stuttgart.

Wolfsburg Vs. Hannover, 2012 Bundesliga: Huszti The Hannover Hero

Hannover went to the Volkswagen Arena and left with all three points after an impressive 4-0 victory. The star of the match is Hannover's Szabolcs Huszti. The midfielder was instrumental in creating all four of Hannover's goals.

Karim Haggui opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the match heading in a corner kick from Huszti. Wolfsburg nearly equalized a few minutes later when Diego found Ivica Olic, but the forward was unable to beat Ron-Robert Zieler.

Huszti struck again in the 26th minute when he fed Artur Sobiech during a quick counter attack. Sobiech scored on Diego Benaglio with a sliding finish. Hannover went into the half with a 2-0 lead.

Hannover struck again just seven minutes into the second half when Leon Andreasen headed a free kick from Huszti past Benaglio. Hannover made it 4-0 just a couple of minutes later when Sobiech secured his brace heading in another cross from Huszti.

Hoffenheim Vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, 2012 Bundesliga: Meier Scores Twice In Frankfurt Win

Alexander Meier scored twice as Eintracht Frankfurt moved to the top of the table with a 4-0 victory over hapless Hoffenheim.

Hoffenheim had the better of the play earlier on with Roberto Firmino causing problems all over the Frankfurt backline. Marvin Compper scored on a pass from Firmino, but he was ruled to be offside.

Meier scored a few minutes later, when his shot deflected off of Compper's foot and beat Tim Wiese. Pirmin Schwegler doubled the lead just before halftime with a shot from distance that caught Wiese out of position.

Hoffenheim would go down two men in the second half when Sejad Salihovic and Stephan Schröck were sent off for picking up their second yellow cards.

Meier and Martin Lanig scored in the final ten minutes to give Frankfurt their second win in as many matches to begin the season.

It's been a rough beginning of the season for Hoffenheim. They were dumped out of the DFB Pokal by a lower division side, and they've now lost their first two Bundesliga matches.

Fortuna Düsseldorf Vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach, 2012 Bundesliga: Goalless Draw In First Rhine Derby

The first Rhine Derby of the season between Fortuna Düsseldorf and Borussia Mönchengladbach ended in a goalless draw.

The hosts got off to a slow start, and Gladbach nearly scored after Fabian Giefer flapped at a long throw in, but Martin Stranzl shot over the bar. Minutes later Juan Arango put in an excellent free kick, and Giefer punched it clear.

Luuk De Jong threatened Giefer's goal twice in the first half, but the goalkeeper made the saves to deny him. Arango forced another great save out of Giefer in the 50th minute, and Gladbach could never get any closer.

The visitors threw on Dani Schahin hoping that he could find some of the magic that he had last week in their match against Augsburg. Schahin was involved early, but he was unable to produce a goal.

Düsseldorf will be please with the draw as they keep their perfect Bundesliga record after two matches and sit at four points.

Nürnberg Vs. Borussia Dortmund, 2012 Bundesliga: BVB, Nürnberg Share Spoils

Borussia Dortmund will be disappointed to come away from Nürnberg with only one point after Saturday's encounter.

Dortmund had the first and best chance on target early when Sebastian Kehl hit a great volley on target that forced Raphael Schäfer into an excellent save.

Nürnberg would take the lead after half an hour when Tomas Pekhart out-jumped Mats Hummels to get his head to a cross from Hiroshi Kiyotake. The goal brought out some ferocity in the BVB attack, and they found their equalizer just a short time later.

Ivan Perisic saw his shot deflect off of the crossbar, and the ball ended up at the feet of Jakub Blaszczykowski. There was nobody between Kuba and the open net, and the Polish international wasn't going to miss from there.

Both clubs came close to scoring a second goal in the last half hour. Hummels had a header cleared off of the line for BVB, and Robert Mak struck the post with only a few minutes left.

Werder Bremen Vs. Hamburg, 2012 Bundesliga: Bremen Claim First Nordderby

Aaron Hunt turned in a great performance scoring a goal and assisting on another as Werder Bremen beat Hamburg 2-0.

Bremen almost took the lead after a couple of minutes, but Nils Petersen's header struck the bottom of the crossbar before bouncing out. The hosts kept attacking and forced many good saves out of Rene Adler.

Just before halftime, Bremen were awarded a penalty when Jeffrey Bruma brought down Eljero Elia with a silly foul. Hunt stepped up to take the penalty, but Adler made a great save to his left to keep the match scoreless at the break.

Hunt received a chance to redeem himself in the 51st minute, when Dennis Aogo fouled Peterson in the area. Hunt stepped to the spot and went the same direction with his penalty, but he kicked this one with much more force and scored.

Hunt picked up his assist in the 67th minute and fed a perfect ball to Peterson who put his shot between Adler's leg for the second goal of the match.

While new signing Rafael van der Vaart watched from the stands, Hamburg put in another poor performance, and the pressure can only be building on sporting director Frank Arnesen.

Bayer Leverkusen Vs. Freiburg, 2012 Bundesliga: Leverkusen Pick Up First Win Of The Season

After last week's big loss to newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen put the right foot forward early in their match against Freiburg on the way to their first victory on the season.

Leverkusen nearly opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Andre Schürrle rounded Oliver Baumann, but he saw his shot cleared off the line by defender Fallou Diagne. They got their goal less than a minute later. Baumann saved a header by Stefan Kießling straight up in the air. Gonzalo Castro dove in and headed the ball into the net to give the hosts the early lead.

Philipp Wollscheid doubled the lead for Leverkusen in the 54th minute. He headed in a corner kick from Castro that Baumann couldn't save. The corner was earned when Baumann made a great save on a header form Kießling.

Freiburg were very poor in the match and will regret putting in such a poor performance with a two week break before their next match against Hoffenheim. Leverkusen's next match will be in the Europa League against Metalist Kharkiv.

Schalke Vs. Augsburg, 2012 Bundesliga: Schalke Ease To Win Over Augsburg

Schalke won their first match of the season as they eased to a 3-1 victory over Augsburg Saturday.

After the first half hour in which neither side could get their shots on target, Schalke finally struck in the 33rd minute. Jefferson Farfan lofted a corner kick into the area, and Kyriakos Papadopoulos smashed home a header from around the penalty spot.

The hosts doubled their lead just after halftime. Jermaine Jones went on a mazy run into the penalty area and slammed his shot off of the far post and into the back of the net. The American international scored in the 46th minute, and Augsburg were really up against it. Jones would unleash another shot off the post, but this time it did not go in the net.

Farfan picked up his second assist of the match in the 72nd minute when Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored on a header. Simon Jentzsch got his hand to the ball but not before it already crossed the goalline.

Augsburg scored a late consolation goal thanks to Torsten Oehrl. The forward punched home a loose ball after Lars Unnerstall saved a shot from Daniel Baier.

The win was not the only good news for Schalke on the day. New loan signing Ibrahim Afellay made a late substitute appearance.

Mainz 05 Vs. Greuther Fürth, 2012 Bundesliga: Fürth Win First Ever Bundesliga Match

A second half goal by Felix Klaus gave Greuther Fürth their first ever victory in the Bundesliga Friday evening in their match against Mainz.

The home side controlled the majority of the contest and constantly threatened Max Grün's goal. Mainz were never able to to beat the Fürth goalkeeper, and the Klaus' goal "stole" all three points for Fürth.

Fürth fought to try and counter against a steadfast Mainz side and nearly took the lead, but Djiby Fall saw his shot strike the post. Mainz continued to push forward looking for the lead goal, but Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting missed two open chances sending one into the side netting and heading one over the crossbar.

Mainz were close to finding the opening goal several times, but Fürth caught them on the break. Klaus saw his shot deflect off of Nikolce Noveski. The ball went over the head of a helpless Christian Wetklo and into the back of the net. The goal by Klaus is the first ever goal by Greuther Fürth in the Bundesliga.

Mainz attacked in earnest for the remainder of the match, but they were unable to beat Grün. The win is huge for Fürth as the clubs will be without matches next weekend due to the international break. Unfortunately for Mainz, they must travel to Bayern Munich in two weeks time.

Bundesliga 2012, Week 2 Preview And Matches: Stuttgart Hopes To Rebound Against Bayern

Week 2 of the Bundesliga is upon us, and Stuttgart is looking to rebound from last week's shocking loss.