Berlin, Sep 25 (IANS): Kevin Volland's brace helped Bayer Leverkusen beat Hamburg 3-0 while newly promoted Hannover shared the spoils with Cologne following a goalless draw at the close of the sixth round in the Bundesliga football league.
Bayer Leverkusen recorded their second win of the season after overcoming harmless Hamburg 3-0 on home soil. Kevin Volland's and Lucas Alario's first-half goals smoothed the way for Sunday's win, reports Xinhua news agency.
Hamburg worked out the first chance of the game but it were the hosts who broke the deadlock with 20 minutes played as Leon Bailey headed into the path of Volland, who volleyed home the opener from 13 meters.
The hosts capitalised on their momentum from the opener and doubled the lead three minutes later as Bailey's second assist of the day allowed summer signing Lucas Alario to tap home the 2-0 lead.
As the match progressed, Hamburg gained a foothold in the game. They were still unable to reduce the arrears, as Andre Hahn and Bobby Wood pulled wide from promising positions.
Leverkusen should have tripled the lead before the break but Admir Mehmedi missed the target from five meters in the 36th minute.
After the restart, Hamburg increased their efforts but Leverkusen retracted with the two-goal lead. However, Andre Hahn was only able to rattle the side netting before Volland sealed the deal after Alario's found the German international inside the box in the 83rd minute.
With the victory, Bayer Leverkusen climbed up to the 10th place of the standings after reaping the second win of the season while Hamburg suffered their fourth consecutive loss to slump to the 15th position.
"We were very efficient in front of Hamburg's goal which made the difference today. We were careless after 2-0 and almost handed over control," Leverkusen coach Heiko Herrlich said.
Elsewhere, Cologne were able to avoid the sixth loss in as many games after holding newly promoted and unbeaten Hannover to a goalless draw after 90 minutes.
Despite the draw, the "Billy Goats" remained at the bottom of the table whereas Hannover stayed at the fourth place.