Hamburg - Edin Dzeko and attacking partner Grafite were on fire again with two goals each as VfL Wolfsburg hammered Bayern Munich 5-1 for the Bundesliga lead on Saturday.

The Bosnia forward Dzeko broke a 1-1 tie with his strikes in the 63rd and 65th minute for a season tally of 15 and Brazil's Grafite did his share in in the 74th and 77th - the latter with an amazing back-heeler - to become league top scorer with 20 goals.

Wolfsburg moved atop the standings with their eighth straight victory and because Hertha Berlin crashed 3-1 at home against Borussia Dortmund.

London  - Chelsea ruined Alan Shearer's debut as Newcastle United manager with a 2-0 win at St James's Park on Saturday to keep their league title hopes alive.

Goals from Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda moved Chelsea to second on goal difference from Liverpool, who can go top above Manchester United if they win at Fulham later on Saturday.

Newcastle remain in deep trouble, third from bottom and three points from safety, while bottom side West Bromwich Albion look doomed after they were beaten 2-0 at home by fellow strugglers Stoke City.

Hamburg  - Edin Dzeko and attacking partner Grafite were on fire with two goals each as VfL Wolfsburg hammered Bayern Munich 5-1 for the Bundesliga lead on Saturday.

The Bosnia forward Dzeko broke a 1-1 tie with his strikes in the 63rd and 65th minute and Grafite did his share in the 74th and 77th as Wolfsburg moved atop the standings with the victory and because Hertha Berlin crashed 3-1 at home against Borussia Dortmund.

London, Apr. 4: Manchester United have played down reports of Spanish football club Real Madrid offering 75 million pounds for Portuguese star striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sources at Old Trafford insisted last night that there was no substance to the claims, in line with the club''s public stance that Ronaldo, under contract until 2012, will not be leaving Manchester in the near future.

Mexico City  - Mexican Javier Aguirre was Friday designated to become Mexico's new football coach, replacing the Swede, Sven- Goran Eriksson.

Aguirre - the former coach of La Liga clubs Osasuna and Atletico Madrid, among others - coached Mexico for the 2002 World Cup.

In a brief statement the Mexican Football Federation said Aguirre, 50, would be formally presented to the media as coach on April 16.

Bielefeld, Germany - Goals from Jefferson Farfan and Kevin Kuranyi gave Schalke 04 a 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld in their first match since the dismissal of coach Fred Rutten eight days ago.

Peru striker Farfan got on the end of a cross from Christian Pander to head Schalke ahead just before half-time, and Kuranyi notched the second three minutes into stoppage time.

The win was a boost for troubled Schalke who are now being coached by caretaker trainers Mike Buskens and Youri Mulder.