BAYER Leverkusen finally gained its first victory of the new season Wednesday when it beat home side Hansa Rostock 3-1.

　　German international striker Oliver Neuville put Leverkusen ahead after five minutes, using his speed to beat a Rostock offside trap and slot the ball home past Rostock ’keeper Mathias Schober.

　　Neuville missed another great opportunity before Thomas Brdaric made it 2-0 in the 22, after shaking off two defenders and faking Schober.

　　Jochen Kientz headed in for Rostock in the 75th but Leverkusen secured the victory on an own goal by Gerd Wimmer in the 88th, two minutes after Marcus Lantz of Rostock had been sent off.

　　Rostock had its three-match winning streak snapped. Leverkusen finished runner-up in the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the German Cup last season.

　　In other matches, it was VfL Wolfsburg 2, Hamburger SV 1; Hannover 1, Energie Cottbus 3; VfB Stuttgart 1, Schalke 1; and Kaiserslautern 1, Arminia Bielefeld 1.

　　On Tuesday, Bayern Munich beat cross town rival 1860 Munich 3-1 to join Bochum atop the standings. Bochum played to a 0-0 draw against defending champion Borussia Dortmund.

　　(SD-Agencies)