Madras Times - Kane strikes again as Bayern beat Dortmund to stay clear in Bundesliga

The win kept Bayern five points clear atop the Bundesliga table as they maintained their perfect record with 21 points from seven outings this term.

Dortmund sit fourth, seven points adrift of their opponents.

For Kane, his 104th goal for Bayern, was his 400th at club level in his career. He has 19 goals in 11 games in all competitions this season for Bayern, including 12 in the league.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany named Kane in the number 10 role, behind Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson, who made his third start for his new club.

Kane took no time to show his creative chops, threading passes for wingers Luis Diaz and Michael Olise, who both had great chances inside the opening 10 minutes.

The England captain then nodded Bayern in front with a typical poacher's goal from a corner on 21 minutes.

After one-way traffic in the opening period, Dortmund were better in the second half and should have drawn level when Serhou Guirassy pounced on a Bayern error and laid on Karim Adeyemi, who slipped while trying to shoot.

Jobe Bellingham came off the bench late and hesitated in possession in the box, allowing Olise to slide in and score with 11 minutes left.

Dortmund pulled one back through Julian Brandt, who got a boot to a dangerous Julian Ryerson cross in the 84th minute, but the visitors could not make their late pressure count.

- Grimaldo at the double -

Alex Grimaldo scored twice as Bayer Leverkusen won 4-3 at Mainz, extending their unbeaten streak to eight games as they prepare for a European clash with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.

The win sent Leverkusen to fifth in the table, level on points with Dortmund.

Grimaldo's spot-kick put Leverkusen in front on 11 minutes and Christian Kofane doubled the visitors' lead midway through the first half, finishing off a clever team move with a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Leverkusen gave away an easy goal on the 34th-minute mark when Loic Bade's clearance hit his own player, allowing Lee Jae-sung to score.

Just before half-time, Leverkusen pressed Mainz into an error and Jonas Hofmann, who won the penalty, found Grimaldo in the box for a tap-in, his sixth goal in 10 games in all competitions.

Martin Terrier's strike three minutes from time had put Leverkusen 4-2 up but Mainz's Armindo Sieb scored shortly afterwards to set up a nervy ending.

Leverkusen, who have dropped seven points this season despite scoring first in each of their seven matches, eventually hung on.

"After a bumpy start to the season, we've started picking up a few points," Hofmann told Sky.

"We want to build on that and find our footing with our coach (Kasper Hjulmand), who's still new."

Dane Hjulmand replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in early September.

RB Leipzig won 2-1 at home against promoted Hamburg, with Christoph Baumgartner scoring goals for the hosts either side of a strike from Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Leipzig were thumped 6-0 in their season opener at Bayern but have now won five and drawn one to sit in second spot.

Elsewhere, Stuttgart won 3-0 at Wolfsburg to climb to third, with former Wolf Tiago Tomas and Germany duo Maximilian Mittelstaedt and Angelo Stiller also grabbing goals.

Cologne continued their strong form since returning to the top flight, drawing 1-1 with Augsburg at home, while Werder Bremen gave up the lead twice to draw 2-2 at Heidenheim.

F.Patel--MT