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Beaten Bayern still seeking first victory

  • Story Highlights
  • Bayern Munich's poor start to the Bundesliga season continues on Saturday
  • Coach Louis van Gaal still waiting for his first victory after 2-1 defeat at Mainz
  • Bayer Leverkusen move top of Bundesliga after a thumping 5-0 win at Freiburg
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(CNN) -- Bayern Munich's poor start to the Bundesliga season continued as they were beaten 2-1 at Mainz on Saturday, leaving coach Louis van Gaal still searching for his first win since taking over in the summer.

Mainz celebrate their opening goal in their surprise 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Mainz celebrate their opening goal in their surprise 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Andreas Ivanschitz put Mainz ahead in the 25th minute before Aristide Bance doubled the lead in the 37th. Bayern improved in the second half and got back into the game through an own goal from Nikolce Noveski but, despite their efforts, they were unable to find an equalizer, leaving them in the bottom half of the table with just two points from three matches.

Mainz went ahead in the 25th minute with Ivanschitz scoring his first goal in German football, although Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing must accept some of the blame.

The Austrian's low shot towards the bottom corner was within Rensing's reach, but he only got a very weak hand to it and helped the ball into the back of the net.

Bance then scored his second goal in as many games -- beating Daniel van Buyten in the air to head Florian Heller's right-wing cross past Rensing from eight yards out.

Bayern reduced the arrears in the 47th minute when Noveski headed substitute Thomas Muller's cross into his own goal, but the home side held on.

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen have gone top of the table after three games after hammering Freiburg 5-0 with Stefan Kiessling and Tranquillo Barnetta both scoring early on.

Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok smashed home a free-kick for the third and Barnetta scored his second of the game when he was allowed to run at the heart of the Freiburg defense.

Derdiyok also grabbed his second to complete the rout on 80 minutes.

The win puts Leverkusen top although defending champions Wolfsburg can take over if they defeat Hamburg at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday.

Hanover's Czech striker Jiri Stajner scored twice and missed a penalty in his side's 2-0 win over Nuremberg while Cologne were held 0-0 by Frankfurt and Stuttgart drew 1-1 at Borussia Dortmund.

Also on Sunday, Bochum will host Hertha Berlin while Werder Bremen are at home to Moenchengladbach.

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