Schalke's win courtesy of goals from Christoph Moritz, Heiko Westermann and Jefferson Farfan sees Felix Magath's side move onto six points to join his former club Wolfsburg at the top of the standings.

"Our form today was very good. I was surprised how clearly we dominated the first 45 minutes," said Magath. "We didn't expect to win so clearly and without any major problems".

Schalke had the lion's share of possession and took the lead after 38 minutes with a goal from 19-year-old midfielder Christoph Moritz, who was making his debut in Gelsenkirchen.

Just before half-time the Royal Blues scored their second goal after Ivan Rakitic set up for German international Heiko Westermann to give the hosts a 2-nil lead.

In the second half, Schalke's victory was never in jeopardy. Fifteen minutes from the final whistle Jeffersson Farfan completed the 3-nil scoreline to give Schalke their second win of the season.

In the day's other game, Hertha Berlin dominated play but found themselves a goal down after 23 minutes when Roel Brouwers converted Gladbach's first chance of the game, heading in a Tobias Levels cross.

Their second goal came seven minutes after the break through Matmour, who calmly slotted home a pinpoint pass from Oliver Neuville.

Hertha immediately pulled one back through Gajko Kacar, forcing in a Raffael corner from four meters out but it was too little, too late. Gladbach, who struggled last season to avoid relegation, move up to fourth on four points, level with Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt.

For Gladbach's Michael Frontzeck it was his first victory since taking over as coach at the start of the season.

Saturday's matches

In Saturday's Bundesliga action defending champions Wolfsburg maintained their perfect start to the Bundesliga season with a come-from-behind victory away to Cologne.

Rivals Bayern Munich had to settle for a draw at home to Werder Bremen.Young German international midfielder Mesut Ozil gave Bremen the lead but Mario Gomez brought Bayern back into the contest with a goal midway through the second half.

Louis van Gaal won't be happy with 11th place after taking only two points from his two matches in charge.

Fabrice Ehret gave Cologne the lead four minutes into the second interval, but Edin Dzeko equalized for Wolfsburg on 74 minutes. Wolfsburg then grabbed the lead when Pierre Wome netted in his own goal a minute later.

Substitute Obafemi Martins made it 3-1 with three minutes remaining, all but destroying hopes of a late Cologne comeback.

The clash between Hamburg and Dortmund promised fireworks and after a frantic first 12 minutes the match seemed to be heading in that direction. Hamburg's Guy Demel tapped in after just three minutes to put the home side ahead, but Dortmund leveled just two minutes later through Nelson Valdez.

That goal was soon nullified however by quick strikes from new purchase Ze Roberto and Jose Paolo Guerrero.

Substitute Marcus Berg was on the pitch just three minutes when he scored a fourth goal for Hamburg to give Bruno Labbadia's men an unassailable three goal buffer.

Lanig out

VfB Stuttgart meanwhile bounced back from a loss to Wolfsburg last week with a 4-2 victory over neighbors SC Freiburg.

The home side took control after a goalless first half when new Russian signing Pavel Pogrebnyak netted his first goal for Stuttgart on the 53 minute mark.

Pogrebnyak was also involved in Stuttgart's second on 65 minutes when the striker was judged to have been fouled in the area by Freiburg goalkeeper Manuel Salz. Substitute Elson slotted home the resultant spot-kick.

Mohamadou Idrissou gave Freiburg hope with a header but Elson responded almost immediately with a superb strike from outside the area 14 minutes from time to make it 3-1.

There was still time for Idrissou to reduce the deficit once again but Julian Shieber made it 4-2 a minute from time to ensure Markus Babbel's side all three points.

The win was overshadowed by the news that Stuttgart midfielder Martin Lanig will be out of action until the new year after sustaining cruciate ligament damage.

Draws galore

Bayer Leverkusen celebrated their return to the newly renovated BayArena following the completion of a 70-million-euro ($99 million) upgrade with a 1-0 victory over TSG Hoffenheim.

Stefan Kiessling netted the only goal of the game on 67 minutes in front of an increased capacity of 30,000 fans, poking in a pass from Erin Derdiyok.

In other action, Mainz and Hanover played out a 1-1 draw while the match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Nuremberg finished with the same scoreline.

nrt/Reuters/AFP/dpa

Editor: Clare Atkinson