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On Friday, the match between the champions of Munich, "Bayern," and Moenchengladbach's "Borussia" kicked off the 2005-2006 German championship. This year it started a bit earlier than usual due to the 2006 World Cup taking place in Germany next summer.
In the new Munich "Allianz Arena" stadium, in front of 66 thousand spectators, defending champions "Bayern" celebrated a 3-0 victory. They played the entire second half with ten men - in the 43rd minute, the team's newcomer and former "Werder" defender Valerien Ismael was sent off the field for a second yellow card. Although the first card was well-deserved, the Frenchman received the second one for a gentle foul against Olivier Neuville.
In the match, according to experts, Englishman Owen Hargreaves and Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz shone, the latter hitting the crossbar with a shot.
In the first half, there was a fierce battle, and in the 28th minute after R. Santa Cruz's pass, O. Hargreaves scored the first goal of the season in the "Bundesliga."
The remaining two goals at the very end of the match - in the 86th and 89th minutes - were scored by the Dutchman Roy Makaay. By the way, the new "Bayern" right-back, 26-year-old Iranian Ali Karimi, played the entire second half on the field.
After the first official matches at the "Allianz Arena" stadium, where, unlike the old "Olympiastadion," there are no running tracks for athletics, "Bayern" veteran goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said: "This is something new. The atmosphere is completely different. There's no point shouting at your teammates now because they won't hear you anyway."
Friday's match results:
Munich 3 - 0 28' [1 - 0] Owen Hargreaves 86' [2 - 0] Roy Makaay 89' [3 - 0] Roy Makaay
Saturday's matches:
"Köln" - Mainz "Hamburger" - "Nürnberg" "Hannover" - "Hertha" "Duisburg" - "Stuttgart" "Wolfsburg" - "Borussia" "Werder" - "Arminia"
Sunday's matches:
"Eintracht" - "Bayer" "Schalke" - "Kaiserslautern"
