LAST UPDATE | 4 Nov 2023
HARRY KANE SCORED a hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrashed Borussia Dortmund 4-0 away, closing the gap with leaders Bayer Leverkusen to two points.
Bayern captain Manuel Neuer lauded his striker, telling German TV “that’s his experience, he brought it with him to the Bundesliga from England and he shows us it week after week.”
“We’ve got some quick guys up front and with them we really hurt Dortmund.”
Stung by a midweek German Cup elimination by third-division Saarbruecken, Leverkusen’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim earlier on Saturday meant injury-hit Bayern were five points behind Xabi Alonso’s side at kickoff.
The visitors however crafted the perfect response, scoring two goals in the opening nine minutes to grab a hold on the match.
France centre-back Dayot Upamecano, cleared to play just hours before the match after missing a month with a hamstring injury, headed Bayern in front four minutes in from a Leroy Sane pass.
The former Man City winger laid on Bayern’s second on the counter, slipping a perfect pass across the face of goal for Kane to tap in.
Unbeaten at home for more than a year, Dortmund were shell-shocked by the power of the supposedly weakened visiting side.
Dortmund manager Edin Terzic made four changes early in the second-half as his side hoped to chase the game but Bayern scored next, Kane stroking in a controlled finish with 15 minutes remaining.
“The way we played during the week, it was bitter” Neuer said of the German Cup loss “but we showed what we can do today.”
“Bayern were simply more aggressive in the duels and simply more dangerous on the counter attack” said Dortmund ‘keeper Gregor Kobel, who made several key saves early in the second half.
The England captain scored again in injury time and now has 15 league goals in 10 matches since joining Bayern from Tottenham in the summer.
Bayern have not lost to Dortmund in the league since 2018.
Earlier on Saturday, goals in each half from Alex Grimaldo took Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
Unbeaten Leverkusen, who have now won nine and drawn one in the league, made difficult work of the win, allowing Hoffenheim to score twice in two minutes to let a 2-0 lead slip. The visitors re-took the lead thanks to a late Grimaldo goal.
Union Berlin’s woes continued ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Napoli, losing 3-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Elsewhere, Mainz won their first match of the season, shocking RB Leipzig 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Lee Jae-sung and Leandro Barriero, just days after sacking manager Bo Svensson.
Freiburg fought back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Italy midfielder Vincenzo scoring a penalty in the sixth minute of injury time to level the scores.
Cologne were held 1-1 at home to Augsburg, meaning Steffen Baumgart’s side will finish the match in last place.
In Spain, Ronald Araujo headed home in the 92nd minute to snatch Barcelona an undeserved 1-0 win at Real Sociedad in La Liga.
Having suffered a last-gasp defeat by Real Madrid in the Clasico last Saturday despite having the better of the game, Xavi Hernandez’s side inflicted the same suffering on Real Sociedad in San Sebastian.
Barcelona failed to create any clear chances until the final stages, with their goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen keeping the score level, before Araujo headed Ilkay Gundogan’s cross home with seconds remaining.
The victory takes Barcelona third, two points above Atletico Madrid, who lost on Friday at Las Palmas and one point behind second place Real Madrid, who host Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.
Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal as Serie A leaders Inter Milan edged Atalanta 2-1 away in a rain-lashed slog in Bergamo.
Inter are now five points clear of Juventus and six ahead of AC Milan, who slipped to a 1-0 home defeat to Udinese, after showing relentless spirit despite the conditions playing havoc with the run of the ball.
The away side suffered an early blow when French central defender Benjamin Pavard limped off in the first half. Hakan Calhanoglu lifted their spirits with a confidently converted spot-kick on 40 minutes sending Inter into a welcome half-time break from the rain.
The fiesty Martinez ripped a curling shot round two defenders and into the top corner with an impressive effort on 57 minutes.
Former West Ham player Gianluca Scammaca was fortunate to see his pullback goal stand after a foul in the build-up, but at 2-1 it was game on again until Rafaele Toloi was given a straight red card late on.
Reigning Italian champions Napoli beat southern neighbours Salernitana 2-0 earlier on Saturday to climb provisionally into the top four.
Inter, Juventus and Milan are all still ahead of the champions, but Napoli appear to be putting early season jitters behind them as French coach Rudi Garci starts to make his mark.
If AC Milan were hoping for a confidence boost before the visit of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, they were disappointed as they went down to Roberto Pereyra’s 62nd-minute penalty as Udinese claimed all three points at the San Siro.
