The Ruhr and and Hamburg derbies came and went this weekend and were full of action. Schalke hosted Borussia Dortmund in what is known as the Ruhr derby and Felix Magath’s Konigsblauen were once again condemned to defeat. St. Pauli hosted Hamburg in the Hamburg derby, and were unfortunate not to come away with all three points against much stronger opposition. Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen hosted Nurnberg in a drab goalless draw.

Schalke 1 – 3 Borussia Dortmund

The pressure on Felix Magath continues to mount, with Schalke succumbing to yet another defeat. Schalke remain pointless and are rooted to the bottom of the table, and there appears to be little sign of things turning around at the Veltins-Arena. The visitors took a 1-0 lead into the break after Shinji Kagawa poked the ball home from close range. Kagawa popped up again to make it 2-0 just before the hour mark, and minutes later Nicolas Plestan received a second yellow card for a bad challenge on Lucas Barrios. Robert Lewandowski made it 3-0 with four minutes left to full-time, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar pulled one back for Schalke with just one minute left on the clock. A disastrous result for Schalke accompanied by a shocking performance, particularly in defense. Manuel Neuer was excellent between the posts, and if not for him Dortmund may have scored six. Schalke have now lost five games in a row in all competitions.

St. Pauli 1 – 1 Hamburg SV

St. Pauli put on a great performance in front of their home crowd but lacked the killer touch in front of goal for most of the match. The introduction of Gerald Asamoah 15 minutes from full-time gave St. Pauli the edge they needed, and some excellent work around the edge of the Hamburg 18-yard box created St. Pauli’s opener just two minutes after Asamoah was introduced, which found the back of Frank Rost’s net through Fabian Boll who scored from just outside the area. Hamburg would have expected to win against their recently promoted opponents, but only managed to grab a point at the death through Mladen Petric, who took the ball down on his chest and volleyed it home from nearly 25 yards.

Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 0 Nurnberg

Bayer Leverkusen had to do without Michael Ballack after the veteran midfielder fractured a bone in his leg last weekend. Both sides were poor, and there was very little in terms of goalscoring opportunities for either side. Leverkusen controlled the match, but Nurnberg were determined in defense and soaked up the pressure well. Leverkusen have only managed one win in their first four matches, and will host Frankfurt on Wednesday afternoon in a game they really should come away with three points from.