Borussia Dortmund looked to be returning to the form that won them the title of Bundesliga champions last season as they routed Werder Bremen 5-0 at the Weserstadion.
The game also marked a return to German football for Nuri Sahin as he made his second debut for Dortmund following his unsuccessful transfer to Real Madrid.
Marco Reus and Mario Gotze had the visitors up by two goals inside the first 20 minute with Filipe Santana all but securing the result shortly after the break.
Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski netted late on to round out a resounding victory for a team currently 12 points of the pace set by league leaders Bayern Munich.
Reus got the scoring underway in the 12th minute with a direct free-kick that curled beyond the reach of Sebastian Mielitz.
Ten minutes later Gotze profited from a deflection off Theodor Gebre Selassie as his shot flew past the keeper.
Dortmund never looked troubled in the first period and Lewandowski and Gotze punctuated the long spells of dominance with efforts of goal.
With the second half only three minutes old Santana, in to replace the injured Neven Subotic, planted a corner into the back of the net via his head.
The home side did attempt to get back into the game but to no avail and any chance of a dramatic comeback were killed off in the 81st minute when Lewandowski scored a tap-in.
Sahin then appeared from the bench to make his return to a team for which he starred for six years before an ill-fated move to Madrid and a subsequent stint with Liverpool.
Minutes later Blaszczykowski grabbed the team’s fifth as he netted from close range having been set up by Lukasz Piszczek.
