Munich, Sep 23: Harry Kane scored his first Bundesliga hat trick to move to seven goals from five games in the German league as Bayern Munich surged to a 7-0 win over Bochum on Saturday.
Kane netted his third off a pass from Noussair Mazraoui in the 88th minute — but had to wait for a video review to check for a possible offside — to finish off Bayern’s biggest win since another 7-0 victory against the same opponent in August 2022.
Bayern’s rivals Borussia Dortmund and Leipzig both won their games 1-0 after struggling to break down stubborn opposition defenses.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting got Bayern started when he scored in the fourth minute and it was all Bayern from then on. Kane got his first goal in the 13th when the ball took a deflection off defender Ivan Ordets and landed at his feet.
After goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Leroy Sane extended Bayern’s lead to 4-0, Kane scored again from the penalty spot in the 54th after Ordets handled the ball. Kane set up 18-year-old substitute Mathys Tel for Bayern’s sixth goal in the 81st and finished off his hat trick seven minutes later off Mazraoui’s pass.
The win sent Bayern back to the top of the Bundesliga table a point ahead of three teams, including Stuttgart, which beat Darmstadt 3-1 on Friday. Bayer Leverkusen can move level with Bayern on 13 points with a win over promoted Heidenheim on Sunday.
DORTMUND AND LEIPZIG WIN
A much-changed Dortmund squad, with six new players in the starting lineup compared to Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, eked out a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg which may not relieve much of the pressure on Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
Substitute Donyell Malen unlocked the determined Wolfsburg defense when he found Julian Brandt in space on the left and Brandt crossed low for Marco Reus to knock the ball past the goalkeeper.
American midfielder Gio Reyna was on the bench in the Bundesliga for the first time this season but didn’t play — he was also an unused substitute in the loss to PSG on Tuesday — after sustaining a hairline fracture in his right leg during the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Canada on June 18.
Leipzig was held at bay by Borussia Moenchengladbach until Timo Werner showed off the skills which once made him one of the Bundesliga’s top talents. Werner scored the only goal of the game in the 75th minute off a pass from Xavi Simons, sprinting onto the ball, rounding the goalkeeper and scoring with a high shot from a tight angle.
Leipzig has won its last five games in all competitions and conceded just twice in that span.
UNION LOSES AGAIN
Union Berlin’s losing run hit four games in all competitions after a 2-0 defeat to Hoffenheim. Leonardo Bonucci gave away a penalty for Andrej Kramaric to score Hoffenheim’s opening goal in another setback for Union after losing its first-ever Champions League game to Real Madrid in stoppage time on Wednesday.
Union’s last win came against Darmstadt in the Bundesliga on Aug. 26. It’s a far cry from the scorching opening form Union showed last season, when it was unbeaten and top of the Bundesliga table after seven games.
Augsburg held on for a 2-1 win over Mainz despite playing the last half-hour with 10 men following a red card. Werder Bremen was hosting Cologne later Saturday. (AP)
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