Hamburg wins again; Bechmann double carries Bochum

Aug 19, 2007, 22:33 GMT

Hamburg, Germany - Rafael van der Vaart converted a penalty kick in the second half to help Hamburg to a 1-0 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen while Tommy Bechmann scored a pair of goals to lead Bochum to a 2-1 victory over Energie.

Van der Vaart's goal in the 64th minute broke a scoreless deadlock to allow Hamburg to join Bayern Munich as the only two teams to have won their first two Bundesliga contests.

Hamburg is looking to rebound from a disappointing campaign last season and now sits in second place in the standings after a 1-0 win against Hannover in the opening week and Sunday's win against Bayer Leverkusen.

Bechmann, meanwhile, has given Bochum four points from its first two games as he has tallied a league-leading three goals in his first two contests this season.

He scored once in Bochum's 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen last week, and has now taken over the lead in goals with two more Sunday. Bechmann got Bochum off to a good start with a goal in the 14th minute, and he put the club ahead by two goals before halftime with a strike in the 42nd minute. Ervin Skela pulled Energie to within a goal early in the second half but Bochum held off the home side to keep Energie from taking any points away from the contest.

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