Football: TOP TO BOCHUM; Dane from Spain Thomas gives new boys dream start.
A DANE who holds a Spanish passport is the new scoring sensation in Germany.Thomas Christiansen has hit six goals in the opening three games to fire new boys Bochum to the top of the Bundesliga.
Christiansen was on fire at Leverkusen on Saturday scoring one and setting up two in an amazing 4-2 triumph for the visitors.
He put his form down to his dual nationality - a Danish father and Spanish mother. He said: "I have the passion of the Iberian and the coolness of the Dane.
"We showed the fans in all of Germany we can beat good teams."
Bayern Munich moved into third spot with an impressive 3-0 win at Hamburg thanks mainly to a double from Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro.
Defending champions Borussia Dortmund picked up their first win, 3-1 over VfB Stuttgart.
Ex-Bayern hero Stefan Effenberg had his Wolfsburg debut spoiled by a 1- 0 defeat at Arminia Bielefeld.
The international midfielder was booed mercilessly by the 21,000 home crowd and looked rusty and short of match fitness.
Effenberg said: "I had fun playing. I'm still confident we will get better in the next few months and win these kind of matches."
Hansa Rostock went second top after thrashing Energie Cottbus 4-0 in the clash between two sides from the old East German League. Midfielder Rene Rlydlewicz scored twice.
Reviving 1860 Munich had a 3-0 win against Bremen, while Munchengladbach probably assured more heads will roll at crisis-shaken Kaiserslautern by blasting the Red Devils 3-0.
In France, early leaders Guingamp slipped to fourth place after losing 2- 1 to Auxerre, while Nice took top spot with a similar win over Montpellier.
Goals by Kaba Diawara and Eric Roy secured a fine fightback for Nice after Valery Mezague had given Montpellier the lead.
Defending champions Lyon crushed Bastia 4-1
Ajax stay joint-top of the Dutch League after a hard-fought win at Vitesse Arnhem - their first in Gelredome Stadium since it opened five years ago.
Ghanian striker Matthew Amoah put the home side in front but Finnish defender Petri Pasanen equalised just after the break.
Ajax team captain Christian Chivu sealed their success with a blistering free-kick.
Feyenoord started a massive week for the club by dropping a point in Saturday's 2- 2 draw at Roda JC Kerkrade.
Keeper Edwin Zoetebier was twice at fault as Belgian Tom Soetaers hit both Roda goals, while Pierre van Hooijdonk hit a trademark free-kick for the UEFA Cup holders.
Bert van Marwijk's side travel to Istanbul tomorrow to defend a 1-0 lead against Fenerbahce in their Champions League qualifying clash, then go on to Monaco o Friday to fight out the European Super Cup with Real Madrid.
PSV kept pace with a 1-0 win over FC Groningen but it was a shoddy show against a side they slaughtered 8- 0 last season.
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| Title Annotation: | Winner |
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| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Aug 26, 2002 |
| Words: | 473 |
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