Leverkusen's Javier Hernandez, up, and Dortmund's Mats Hummels challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen in Dortmund, Germany Sunday. — AP BERLIN — Impressive Borussia Dortmund cruised past Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Sunday to reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga and stretch its perfect start to five wins out of five league games. Champion Bayern had beaten Darmstadt 98 3-0 Saturday to move up to 15 points with its fifth victory but Dortmund's win, its 11th consecutive in all competitions, put it back ahead on goal difference. Despite the absence of attacking midfielder Marco Reus, who was left on the bench following his recovery from a fractured toe, Dortmund lay siege from the start and broke the deadlock in the 19th minute. Shinji Kagawa's 50-meter cross picked out Jonas Hofmann, who pounced on a misjudged exit by keeper Bernd Leno to slot in. Leverkusen, looking tired and lacking its usual spark after its midweek 4-1 Champions League win over BATE Borisov, should have leveled with Javier Hernandez but his close-range effort six minutes after the restart was blocked by Roman Buerki. Instead it was the Ruhr valley club, transformed this season under coach Thomas Tuchel after a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, that scored again with Japan international Kagawa, in stellar form this season, flicking in to complete a quick passing move in the 58th. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted his third penalty in the last two league games to complete its comfortable win and take his league goal tally to six and 10 in all competitions. Dortmund's Gonzalo Castro almost punished his former club but his low drive hit the post in the final minute with Leverkusen suffering its third straight loss in the league to remain in 13th spot on six points. Schalke 04 needed the touch of talented teenager Leroy Sane to overcome struggling VfB Stuttgart 1-0 and move up to fourth place while leaving its opponent in joint last place after its fifth loss in five games. Stuttgart, German champion in 2007, was by far the better side throughout creating at least a dozen clear scoring chances, but lacking the killer touch and being repeatedly denied by Schalke keeper Ralf Faehrmann it extended its worst ever start to the Bundesliga. Schalke, with a total of 10 attempts on and off target compared to Stuttgart's 26, required one quick break to score with 19-year-old Sane latching on to a deep pass from Max Meyer, shaking off one defender and firing in with his left foot. Faehrmann came to the rescue once more in the 74th minute to deny Daniel Ginczek from point-blank range, further frustrating the hosts, who are on zero points along with Borussia Moenchengladbach which has also lost its opening five league matches. — Reuters
