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Robben bags brace on Bayern debut

Robben, making his first appearance one day after signing from Real Madrid, came on as a half-time substitute for Hamit Altintop with Bayern leading 1-0.

The 25-year-old opened his account in the 68th minute when he latched onto Frenchman Franck Ribery's pass and fired into the corner of the net after a perfectly-timed run.

Bayern dominated from early on, Bastian Schweinsteiger heading against the bar before Mario Gomez, the Bundesliga's most expensive signing, pounced on a rebound to score after Benaglio parried Altintop's shot in the 27th minute.

"I couldn't have imagined a better start," said Robben. "The whole team played well together. We controlled the match.

"Franck and I played well together. He's a good player and we need him."

South Korean Cha Du-ri scored Freiburg's winner five minutes before halftime after pouncing on a mistake by Benedikt Hoewedes to hand Schalke their first league defeat under new coach Felix Magath.

Stefan Kiessling scored the winner from close range in the 68th minute, his fourth goal in as many games, to leave Leverkusen with 10 points from four games.

Hamburg SV, three points behind in second place, host Cologne on Sunday.

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.