Schmidt scores on debut, Frankfurt march on

Schmidt, whose loan from Leeds to Werder Bremen was only completed on Thursday, was substituted in the 71st minute of Werder's crazy 3-3 draw against Bayer Leverkusen and was celebrating his first goal for his new club just five minutes later. The Swiss full-back latched onto a long ball in front of Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken and slotted into the empty net from around 20 meters.

Schmidt's goal was 2:3 and was scored with Leverkusen short-handed due to a red card against Niklas Stark. Nevertheless, Bundesliga debutant Karim Coulibaly, who had been poorly positioned on several occasions in the first half, managed to equalize in the 94th minute. Leverkusen thus slipped out of rehabilitation for their opening defeat at Hoffenheim. Before Werder's comeback, Patrik Schick had scored twice. The designated Wirtz replacement Malik Tillman, who arrived from Eindhoven, scored on his debut after 35 minutes to put the visitors 2-0 up.

Leipzig, who were defensively solid again after the 6-0 fiasco at Bayern Munich, beat Heidenheim 2-0 at home in their first game without playmaker Xavi Simons, who has moved to the Premier League. Christoph Baumgartner from an acute angle and new signing Romulo with a fine header scored the goals.

Eintracht Frankfurt took over the top of the table, at least temporarily, with a convincing 3-1 win at Hoffenheim. Ritsu Doan, who arrived from SC Freiburg, scored twice, while Can Uzun scored again in the 4-1 opening win over Bremen.

With the exception of Schmidt, the Swiss played supporting roles on this Bundesliga Saturday. Nico Elvedi was unable to prevent Borussia Mönchengladbach's 1-0 defeat in Stuttgart. Leon Avdullahu could do nothing to prevent Hoffenheim's heavy home defeat, while his new team-mate Albian Hajdari came off the bench to make his debut after 72 minutes.

Frankfurt shone without Aurèle Amenda, while Luca Jaquez joined Leonidas Stergiou on the list of absentees for Stuttgart following his broken nose. According to media reports, Jonas Omlin, who was demoted to stand-in keeper at Gladbach, is still considering a change of club.

Results and standings:

Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen 3:3 (1:2). - Goals: 5. Schick 0:1. 35. Tillman 0:2. 44. Schmid (penalty) 1:2. 64. Schick (penalty) 1:3. 76. Schmidt 2:3. 94. Coulibaly 3:3. - Comments: Werder Bremen with Schmidt (from 71). 63rd yellow card against Stark (Werder Bremen).

Hoffenheim - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:3 (0:2). - Goals: 17. Doan 0:1. 27. Doan 0:2. 51. Uzun 0:3. 91. Prömel 1:3. - Comments: Hoffenheim with Avdullahu and Hajdari (from 72nd). Eintracht Frankfurt without Amenda (not in the squad).

VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Mönchengladbach 1:0 (0:0). - Goal: 79 Chema Andres 1:0 - Remarks: Stuttgart without Jaquez and Stergiou (both injured). Mönchengladbach with Elvedi, without Omlin (substitute).

Leipzig - Heidenheim 2:0 (0:0). - Goals: 48. Baumgartner 1:0. 78. Romulo 2:0.

Ranking: 1. Eintracht Frankfurt 2/6 (7:2). 2. St. Pauli 2/4 (5:3). 3. Bayern Munich 1/3 (6-0). 4 Augsburg 1/3 (3:1). 4. Wolfsburg 1/3 (3:1). 6. Union Berlin 1/3 (2:1). 7. 1. FC Köln 1/3 (1:0). 8. VfB Stuttgart 2/3 (2:2). 9. Hoffenheim 2/3 (3:4). 10. RB Leipzig 2/3 (2:6). 11. Borussia Dortmund 1/1 (3:3). 12. Bayer Leverkusen 2/1 (4:5). 13. Borussia Mönchengladbach 2/1 (0:1). 14. Hamburger SV 2/1 (0:2). 15. Werder Bremen 2/1 (4:7). 16. Mainz 05 1/0 (0:1). 17. SC Freiburg 1/0 (1:3). 18. Heidenheim 2/0 (1:5).