Berlin: Bayern Munich snatched its fourth consecutive Bundesliga victory after seeing off Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in the “Klassiker” courtesy of Harry Kane’s hat trick in the 10th round match.
The German giants caught a fairy tale start on the road as Dayot Upamecano headed home the Leroy Sane’s corner kick to stun the BVB with only five minutes played.
Bayern continued with momentum and made it two after Sane’s cutback pass following a counterattack allowed Kane to tap the ball past Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel in the 9th minute, Xinhua reports.
Dortmund was shocked and had to wait until the closing stages of the first half to create the first noteworthy chance in the 45th minute when Donyell Malen missed the target just wide from inside the box with all time and space.
After the restart, Bayern started where they left off as Jamal Musial and Noussair Mazraoui unleashed dangerous efforts in the opening stages.
Dortmund showed a sign of life in the 56th minute when Bayern custodian Manuel Neuer had to stretch to defuse Marco Reus’ promising effort from inside the box.
Bayern remained on the front foot and tripled its lead through Kane, who benefitted on Coman’s square pass before finishing off into the bottom left corner in the 72nd minute.
Things went from bad to worse for the BVB in the closing stages as Kane wasn’t done with the scoring and wrapped up his hat trick after the assist from Aleksandar Pavlovic.
With the result, second-placed Bayern is close to Bayer Leverkusen’s heel while Dortmund stays in the 4th position.
“I am super happy with the performance. Today was a top clash so we delivered a top performance. We had to show a reaction after crashing out of the German Cup and that’s what we did,” Bayer coach Thomas Tuchel said.
“We are extremely disappointed because we had set sights high before the clash, then we concede two goals within eight minutes. The Bavarians was superior in all departments today,” said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
In the other matches, Bayer Leverkusen overpowered resilient Hoffenheim thanks to the 3-2 winner from Alejandro Grimaldo. Struggling Mainz shocked Leipzig with two late goals to secure the first victory of the season. Union Berlin suffered its 12th straight defeat after losing 3-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt. Freiburg shared the spoils with Borussia Monchengladbach following a six-goal thriller and Augsburg held Cologne to a 1-1 stalemate. Already on Friday, Bochum edged Darmstadt 2-1.
–IANS