5 takeaways from a blistering Matchday 10
Goal-king Harry Kane reigned supreme again as Bayern raced to a massive 4-0 Klassiker win - and there was plenty else to get football fans nattering about on another brilliant Bundesliga matchday. bundesliga.com rounds up the main talking points...
1) Bayern still Klassiker bosses
A lot of the pre-match talk ahead of the huge clash on Saturday evening between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich had been about the chance of redemption for the Black and Yellows - for their 4-2 defeat in the last Klassiker meeting and their agonising near miss in the 2022/23 title race. Alas, within moments of kick-off at a bouncing Signal Iduna Park, it was clear that Bayern retain the upper hand in the biggest rivalry in German football.
A mere three minutes had passed by the time Dayot Upamecano had headed the champions ahead, and Harry Kane had firmed up the tone for the rest of the evening by slotting a fluent attacking move in after just eight minutes on the clock. Thomas Tuchel's plan to overload Dortmund in the centre of the pitch was working magnificently.
As desperate as Dortmund were to come back into the crunch encounter, Bayern only ended up cementing their dominance as the match went on, with Kane sealing a memorable hat-trick as the Bundesliga champions crushed Dortmund's unbeaten record so far this season. The win has seen Bayern open up an ominous-looking five-point gap over Dortmund in the table as a two-horse title battle emerges with Bayer Leverkusen. The Munich side's +31 goal difference after 10 matches is not only the best in the Bundesliga, it is the best in the league's history at this stage of the season.
2) Harry Kane is a goalscoring God
He promised so much - and hasn't he just delivered, and then some? Harry Kane's masterful goalscoring ability was no secret before his move to Bayern this summer. The dazzling attacking talent around him in Munich able to service his insatiable appetite for goals has made his spectacular start to life in the Bundesliga look even more sensational by the week.
Watch: Harry Kane's 'special night' in Dortmund
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Words alone cannot quite do justice to the size of his impact, but the numbers tell their own story. Kane's dream hat-trick in his first Klassiker encounter was the third time he has hit a treble in just his tenth Bundesliga appearance. His 15 goals already this season not only have taken him to the front of the top goalscorers' race but made him match Gerd Müller for the best-scoring start to a season ever by this stage. He is the first man since Mario Gomez in 2011 to score back-to-back Bundesliga hat-tricks. He has probably frightened the life out of the poor Heidenheim defenders who have to try to stop him scoring next Saturday.
Small wonder that Kane himself was delighted with another startling display of finishing, telling bundesliga.com: "To be able to win 4-0 in front of our away fans made it a special night."
Watch: Kane goal from own half among contenders for October Goal of the Month
3) Grimaldo grabs top spot for Leverkusen
Bayern's stunning form makes it all the more impressive that Bayer Leverkusen remain top of the Bundesliga table. Die Werkself were certainly made to sweat to keep it that way in a helter-skelter 3-2 win at Hoffenheim on Saturday. While last week it was the individual class of Florian Wirtz that took them to three points against Freiburg, this time it was Alejandro Grimaldo - who might just be a rival for Kane as Bundesliga signing of the summer - who stood up to the plate to seize the win.
The Spaniard had already been attracting attention for his part in a formidable duo of full-backs with Jeremie Frimpong and by netting two belting goals in the victory at in-form Hoffenheim, he made quite sure the limelight would stick with him. Smashing in at the near-post from a clever Jonas Hofmann corner just before half-time saw him strike at a vital time. The curling shot he swept in from the edge of the box was the perfect riposte after Hoffenheim had battled back from two down to level.
Watch: Two great Alejandro Grimaldo strikes as Bayer Leverkusen beat Hoffenheim 3-2
Grimaldo now has five goals in his opening ten Bundesliga matches - a quite sensational tally for a full-back. He is clearly a man to rise to a challenging situation too, having netted all five strikes away from home.
4) Marmoush making Eagles soar
There were a few fears for Eintracht Frankfurt when talismanic Randal Kolo Muani left the club for Paris in the summer. Five goals in their opening six Bundesliga matches this season did little to resolve the doubts of where the attacking spark would come from in the Frenchman's absence.
The departure of a big name leaves a big chance for stars in the making to emerge, however. Step forward Omar Marmoush, whose second brace in two games in a 3-0 win at Union Berlin has seen him seize the mantle of Eintracht attacking hero.
Two clinical finishes from the Egyptian in the opening 14 minutes took Marmoush's tally to the season to six - already making 2023/24 the former Wolfsburg man's best-ever Bundesliga scoring season. With Dino Toppmöller's side creating a solid defensive foundation this season, Marmoush's exploits in front of goal have helped the Eagles to a brilliant run of five wins out of six in all competitions. Frankfurt are positioned nicely in seventh in the table, just four points off third.
5) Mainz off the mark
Finally! After Mainz had threatened to reach the upper reaches of the Bundesliga last season, it was a surprise to many to see them languishing without a win after nine matches of the current campaign. That run of form led to Bo Svensson leaving the club in midweek, and caretaker coach Jan Siewert promptly picked up a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig, no less, to get the first notch in their win column.
Headed goals from Jae-sung Lee and Leandro Barreiro capped a spirited second-half showing and lifted Mainz off bottom spot. The victory snapped an unwanted run of 14 matches without a win stretching back to the end of last season, and with confidence back in the side, it will be fascinating to see if the 05ers can restore themselves to the role of plucky underdogs they performed magnificently for so much of last season.
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