Harry Kane and Bayern Munich celebrate their 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
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Bayern Munich has beaten Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in front of 75,000 fans at a completely sold-out Allianz Arena. Harry Kane (21’) and Michael Olise (79’) were the scorers for Bayern. Bayern dominated the first 45 minutes but still took almost till the 80th minute to see off their closest challenger. Julian Brandt (84’) scored the only goal for Dortmund.
With the win, Bayern has now taken complete control over the Bundesliga table after just seven matchdays. The Rekordmeister is five points ahead of RB Leipzig, who they beat on matchday 1, 6-0, and six points ahead of VfB Stuttgart.
For Dortmund, this was the third game in which they have dropped points this season. The Black and Yellows have dropped points against St. Pauli (3-3), Leipzig (1-1), and today against its biggest rivals.
As a result, Dortmund now trails Bayern by seven points. Does that mean the title race is over? “I wouldn’t go that far,” Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich said after the game. “The truth is also that we often have played a great first half of the season only to struggle in the second half of the season.”
The Bayern bosses emphasized Kimmich’s statement. “Nobody has won the title on matchday 7,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said. “It isn’t something I think about,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany added. “As of tomorrow, everything is back to zero. I also feel the boys aren’t concerned about the number of points we have; they just want to win everything.”
Still, Bayern’s dominance at the moment over the Bundesliga is scary, and it is hard to imagine that anyone could stop the Munich club from winning its 35th German championship.
Bayern Munich has opened up a significant gap at the top of the Bundesliga table. (Photo by S. Mellar/FC Bayern via Getty Images)
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At least at times, Dortmund made it a contest at the Allianz Arena. Important considering that the start of the game was a disaster for the visitors. Bayern played Dortmund off the pitch, and the Black and Yellows were lucky to be down by just one goal at half-time.
“We weren’t aggressive enough in the first half,” Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac said after the game. “But that’s what you need to do against a great team. We really struggled with Kane dropping deep. In the second half, we adjusted, and we handled him a bit better.”
Despite Dortmund’s improvement in the second half, Kane was unplayable. The striker, in fact, scored his 400th club career goal against Dortmund tonight. It might be one of the most important once in his career.
“He was very complete today,” Kompany said when asked about his star striker. “Of course, he scores the goal, but he also helped defensively and had an important tackle against Nico Schlotterbeck. Right now, he is in incredible form. We enjoy him in a phase in which he is playing well.”
Kompany is right to be pleased about the England striker. Not only did he score a decisive goal, but he also had a complete performance. Starting as a no.10 behind Nicolas Jackson, Kane was everywhere on the pitch.
When Dortmund started to press for the equalizer, Kane helped defensively. Plus, his pass ahead of the second goal to find the streaking Luis Díaz was nothing short of world-class. Bayern has many world-class players, but in the big matches, Kane is currently making a big difference, justifying his $100 million price tag.