First half goals from Emre Can and Mats Hummels and a sensational effort by Jude Bellingham steered Borussia Dortmund to a comfortable 3-1 victory at Arminia Bielefeld.
Playing without injured Erling Haaland, who will be sidelined for several weeks with a hip injury, Dortmund were never troubled as they secured their seventh league win from nine matches and bounced back from their 4-0 Champions League humiliation at Ajax in midweek.
They opened the scoring with Can’s 31st-minute penalty before they doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time via a stunning Hummels volley. Bellingham made sure of the three points in the 73rd minute, dribbling past three players inside the box and then beautifully chipping the ball over the keeper. A late penalty by Fabian Klos cut the deficit for the hosts but they remain in the relegation zone.
Dormund remain a point behind Bayern Munich who demolished Hoffenheim 4-0 to remain top of the Bundesliga. With the champions’ coach, Julian Nagelsmann, in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, his side still managed another flurry of goals.
Serge Gnabry opened Bayern’s account in the 16th minute after an earlier goal by the Germany international was disallowed following a VAR review. The Bavarians struck again on the half-hour mark when Robert Lewandowski spectacularly thundered in a shot from outside the box to take his league season tally to 10 goals. The Pole has now scored 26 goals in 34 league matches in the calendar year of 2021. Late goals from substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Kingsley Coman sealed Bayern’s win.
RB Leipzig took some of the pressure off their American coach, Jesse Marsch, with a 4-1 comeback win over promoted Greuther Fürth, who led at half-time through Branimir Hrgota’s penalty. Yussuf Poulsen levelled immediately after the break, before goals from Emil Forsberg, Dominik Szoboszlai and Hugo Novoa eased the pressure on Marsch.
Freiburg remain in third place with a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. Philipp Leinhart and Lucas Holer scored for the league’s only unbeaten team. Wolfsburg are now on an eight-game winless run in all competitions. Hertha Berlin won 1-0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to Marco Richter’s acrobatic finish.
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In Italy, Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored at both ends as the visitors overcame a wobble to earn a 4-2 win over nine-man Bologna in Serie A andreturn to the top of the table.
Milan looked to be on course for a comfortable victory after Rafael Leão fired home 16 minutes in, before Bologna were dealt a further blow as Adama Soumaoro was sent off for bringing Rade Krunic down four minutes later.
Captain Davide Calabria hammered Milan into a 2-0 lead in the 35th minute before Ibrahimovic, starting his first league game of the season, put through his own net to give the hosts hope four minutes after the break.
Musa Barrow’s fine finish three minutes later stunned the visitors to pull the 10 men level, only for Roberto Soriano’s red card for a reckless tackle leaving the hosts with an even more difficult task.
Bologna dug in but Ismaël Bennacer’s fine finish six minutes from time put Milan back ahead before Ibrahimovic added a late fourth. “We made the mistake of thinking the game was over when we were 2-0 up with an extra man,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said afterwards. “Fortunately, we showed the strength to restart and get the win.”
Sassuolo fought back from a goal down to beat Venezia 3-1 at home. David Okereke put the visitors in front just after the half-hour mark, but Domenico Berardi and Davide Frattesi struck to turn the game around. Salernitana remain rock bottom after conceding three goals in the first 13 minutes as they lost 4-2 at home to Empoli.
In La Liga, Iker Muniain’s penalty earned Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 home win over Villarreal, who have now won just two of their first nine fixtures. Valencia fought back in dramatic style to grab a draw with Mallorca, with Gonçalo Guedes and José Gayà both scoring in stoppage time for the hosts.
Lille’s slow start to the Ligue 1 season continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Brest, while Nantes climbed to fifth in the table with a 2-1 win over promoted Clermont Foot.