Leipzig lose as Kane treble sends Bayern 8 points clear

RB Leipzig continued to lose ground on Bundesliga league leaders Bayern Munich with a 4-3 defeat at lowly Hoffenheim on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen registered big wins.

Hoffenheim came from a goal down to equalise three times and hit the lead with four minutes remaining on a wild debut for new manager Christian Ilzer.

Hoffenheim’s Adam Hlozek collected a brace while Tom Bischof scored a clever free kick and Jakob Bruun Larsen was responsible for the winner in the 86th minute.

Leipzig’s efforts came through Willi Orban, Antonio Nusa and an own goal from Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki.

Equal on points with Bayern just three matchdays ago, Leipzig have lost two and drawn one and now sit eight behind the league leaders.

On Friday, a second-half Harry Kane hat-trick took Bayern Munich to a 3-0 home win over Augsburg on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern, still yet to lose in the league in 2024-25, were dominant throughout but kept at bay by some dogged defending from their Bavarian neighbours.

With 61 minutes gone, the ball connected with Augsburg’s Mads Pedersen’s outstretched arm in the box, bringing the England captain to the spot after a VAR review.

Kane cooly converted to give Bayern the lead.

In stoppage time, Kane went down in the box after contact from Keven Schlotterbeck and Bayern were again awarded a penalty after a VAR review, which the 31-year-old converted.

Schlotterbeck was sent from the field after picking up a second yellow for his challenge.

Kane then added a third, this time controlling a cross and heading in, his seventh hat-trick since joining Bayern.

Leipzig had only conceded five goals in the league season before Saturday’s outing.

In Dortmund, the home side won 4-0 over Freiburg thanks to goals from Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Gittens, while the visitors finished with nine men.

Under fire and sitting outside the European placings coming into the match, Dortmund’s one saving grace this league campaign has been their home form, with five wins from five.

The hosts got on track early, when Beier, who scored a double for Germany’s under-21s against France this week, opening the scoring seven minutes in.

Midfielder Nmecha, who scored for Germany’s senior side in their 1-1 draw in Hungary midweek, added a second with a superb long-range effort on the 40th-minute mark.

Freiburg’s hopes of a comeback were snuffed out after 63 minutes when Patrick Osterhage picked up a second yellow card for a rough tussle with Marcel Sabitzer.

From the ensuing free kick, Dortmund’s Brandt curled the ball home and England winger Gittens curled in a fourth to seal the match with 13 minutes remaining.

Freiburg’s Junior Adamu saw straight red for striking Dortmund’s Waldemar Anton in stoppage time, reducing his side to nine men.

Dortmund have now won their past six against Freiburg, scoring 24 and conceding five.

Defending champions Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 at home against Heidenheim thanks to a hat-trick from Patrick Schick.

Heidenheim, who host Chelsea in the Conference League on Thursday, were two goals up within 21 minutes, with Niklas Dorsch and Mathias Honsak taking advantage of some sleepy defence.

World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios pulled one back on the half-hour mark before Schick, in for the injured Victor Boniface, scored three unanswered goals to wrestle back control of the match before Granit Xhaka added a fifth with eight minutes remaining.

Last season’s runners-up Stuttgart scored two second-half goals through Chris Fuehrich and Justin Diehl to win 2-0 at home over last-placed Bochum, who have just one point from 11 games this season.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku scored the only goal as his side defeated Union Berlin 1-0 at home.

Agencies