Brilliant Bayern down Dortmund

FC Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in Der Klassiker on Saturday evening to remain in hot pursuit of Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table. Bayern got off to a perfect start, scoring two early goals through Dayot Upamecano and Harry Kane. Kane went on to score two more in the second half to round off his hat-trick.

The champions started with Manuel Neuer in goal and Noussair Mazraoui, Upamecano, Minjae Kim and Alphonso Davies in defence. Konrad Laimer and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sané, with Kane at centre-forward.

Aleksandar Pavlović came on for Upamecano on the hour, with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Müller replacing Musiala and Sané in the closing stages.

Perfect start

Bayern hit the ground running and went ahead inside four minutes when a Sané corner found Upamecano, who powered home a header. Coman fired an effort wide, but Bayern doubled the advantage when they won the ball in their own half. Barely 10 seconds and 80 yards later, Kane rounded off a textbook counter from Sané's square.

Munich dropped a little deeper now and clear-cut chances were at a premium for a spell. Kane hit the post after the half-hour, but the assistant's flag was up in any case. A Goretzka bicycle-kick went wide before Donyell Malen fired inches over at the other end as Bayern went into half-time two up.

Harry the hat-trick hero

Bayern almost put things to bed after the restart, but Musiala saw an effort saved, Kane had a shot blocked and Mazraoui fired one over the bar. Musiala soon found the net after keeper Gregor Kobel denied Kane, but the goal was again chalked off for offside. It was a more balanced affair now, Neuer saving from Marco Reus and Kobel denying Sané and Musiala.

Kane invited Musiala to tap in, but another goal was ruled out by the assistant's flag. Two minutes later Munich had their third, Coman finding the unmarked Kane, who beat Kobel. Former FCB man Marcel Sabitzer miscued a free-kick and Youssoufa Moukoko fired over, but Pavlović soon sent Kane on his way, the England captain rounding off his hat-trick and the final scoreline in added time.

The result means Bayern have 26 points from 10 matches, two short of Leverkusen. The Bavarians will be back in action on Wednesday when they entertain Galatasaray in the Champions League.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen