BERLIN: Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez celebrated his first Bundesliga start for Bayern Munich in style by inspiring them to a 3-0 win at Schalke 04 on Tuesday.

James, on loan from Real Madrid, scored the second goal and cleverly set up the third, having also played a part in winning the penalty which got Bayern off the mark.

Robert Lewandowski fired Bayern ahead from the spot in the 25th minute after James got to the byline and produced a cross which was handled by Naldo.

Four minutes later, James got free in the Schalke box and tucked his shot past Ralf Faehrmann for Bayern’s second.

Not content with that, he cut inside two defenders and dinked the ball over the Schalke defence for Arturo Vidal to add the third in the 75th minute.

Bayern’s win put them on 12 points from five games and took them top, at least until Wednesday.

The away win was a boost for Bayern who confirmed Tuesday that goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer had undergone another operation on his left foot and is out until January.

Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti rotated the squad with James on the right wing as one of six changes from the side which beat Mainz 4-0 on Saturday.

Augsburg continued their impressive start when a fourth-minute goal from Michael Gregoritsch gave them a 1-0 win over last season’s runners-up RB Leipzig. VfL Wolfsburg drew 1-1 at home to Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach beat VfB Stuttgart 2-0 in the other games.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2017