Harry Kane scored once and helped set up another as Bayern Munich battled past Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Bundesliga’s Klassiker to maintain their perfect start to the season with their seventh straight win. Bayern had to survive considerable second-half pressure from the visitors before making sure of their 11th win in 11 matches across all competitions.
They lead the Bundesliga race with 21 points, five ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig. Dortmund, who suffered their first loss in 10 matches across all competitions, dropped to fourth on 14. Kane gave the hosts a deserved lead when he scored his 12th league goal in seven matches with a glancing header from a Joshua Kimmich corner in the 22nd minute.
“We weren’t at our best level in the second half,” said Kimmich. “But we fought, and it was a very important win for the team. You can see that it’s difficult to beat us at the moment.”
Dortmund tried to bounce back after the break, going close through Felix Nmecha before Karim Adeyemi fired over the bar from close range.
Kane, who scored twice in England’s 5-0 win over Latvia on Tuesday to secure World Cup qualification, then sent a stunning 60-metre pass for Luis Díaz who cut into the Dortmund box. Dortmund’s Jobe Bellingham cut out the cross but delayed his clearance, allowing Michael Olise to slide in and score in the 79th minute. The visitors pulled a goal back through Julian Brandt’s tap-in five minutes later and piled on the pressure to inject late drama into the game.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo scored twice in the first half to guide his side to a 4-3 victory in a thrilling clash at Mainz, stretching their record unbeaten run on the road in the Bundesliga.
In La Liga, the substitute Ronald Araújo scored three minutes into added time as Barcelona secured a 2-1 win over a stubborn Girona. Barcelona took the lead in the 13th minute, when Pedri received Lamine Yamal’s quick ball into the box and ran across the defensive line before dispatching a low left-footed finish.
Yet Axel Witsel’s spectacular bicycle kick off Arnau Martínez’s header levelled for Girona seven minutes later. The hosts pushed hard for the winner with five shots on target in the first 30 minutes of the second half and their efforts were finally rewarded when Araújo struck in added time.
Araújo took his shirt off in celebration and was booked but Hansi Flick, his coach, was not around to see it as he had just been sent off for two yellows in added time.
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Atlético Madrid rose to fourth in the table with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Osasuna, Giuliano Simeone teeing up Thiago Almada to break the visitors’ resistance in the second half. Jan Oblak’s excellent late save to deny Ante Budimir ensured the three points.
Villarreal gave up a two-goal lead at home against Real Betis, Antony scoring twice – the second deep into stoppage time – to give the visitors a 2-2 draw. Villarreal stay third while Betis are fifth.
In Serie A, Inter earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Roma, with a strike from Ange-Yoan Bonny tightening the race at the top of the table. It took six minutes for Inter to break the deadlock, Bonny racing on to an incisive pass from Nicolò Barella and burying his finish past Mile Svilar. The result denied Roma the chance to take the outright lead at the top, instead leaving them level on 15 points with Inter and Napoli at the summit.
Earlier in the evening, Napoli had fallen to a 1-0 defeat at Torino, suffering their second league loss of the season. Giovanni Simeone scored the game’s only goal, pouncing on a loose ball in the box to work some space and slot his finish into the net. The reigning champions were missing both Scott McTominay and Rasmus Højlund through injury and struggled to find their attacking rhythm.
