Thomas Tuchel could not have asked for a better start as his Bayern Munich side went top of the Bundesliga table after a 4-2 win against Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
The German champion scored three inside the first 30 minutes to take the game away from their rival. While Dortmund scored consolation goals late in the second-half, it did little in the grand scheme of things.
Bayern took the lead in the 13th minute after a horrible blunder by Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel, that led to an own goal. He came off his line to clear Dayot Upamecano’s through ball for Leroy Sane. However, he completely missed his kick, causing the ball to hit the outside of his boot and spin into the back of the net.
Bayern added its second in the 18th minute, courtesy of Thomas Muller. Matthijs de Ligt headed the ball towards the goal from a corner. Muller, who had beaten the offside trap, stationed himself at the far-post and guided the ball inside the net with an easy tap-in.
Muller got his brace in the 23rd minute with another simple finish. Leroy Sane, who looked threatening from the beginning, cut into his favourite left foot and curled a shot at goal. Kobel made the save but could not get the ball away from danger. Muller was in the right place at the right time to score from the rebound.
The Bavarian onslaught continued in the second-half. Five minutes after the restart, Bayern constructed its best attacking move of the match. Kingsley Coman picked up the ball on the left and switched play with a well-measured pass to Sane. The German made a driving run and sent in a wonderful cross inside the box. Coman showed his immaculate pace to make up ground and found the net with a first-time finish.
Bayern thought it had found a fifth after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored with an incredible overhead kick, but the assistant referee ruled out the strike by raising his flag for offside.
It seemed that Yann Sommer would keep a clean sheet in what was a fairly comfortable evening for him between the sticks, but Serge Gnabry conceded a penalty in the 71st minute after bringing down Jude Bellingham inside the box. Emre Can stepped up to take the penalty and converted from the spot to pull one back for Dortmund.
Gnabry found the net in the 85th minute after a wonderful lob to catch Kobel out of his line but was adjudged offside.
Dortmund scored its second goal of the match after substitute Donyell Malen scored in the 90th minute. He played a lovely one-two with Raphael Guerreiro and rolled the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Tuchel’s men reclaimed the top spot in the Bundesliga standings with 55 points from 26 matches. Dortmund remains second with 53 points, having played the same number of matches.