Alcacer hat-trick keeps Dortmund top of Bundesliga
Kovac under pressure as Bayern crash 3-0 at home to Gladbach
BERLIN, Oct 6, (AFP): Substitute Paco Alcacer claimed a stunning hattrick as his superb 96th-minute freekick kept Borussia Dortmund top of the Bundesliga after a dramatic 4-3 win over Augsburg on Saturday.
Having already scored two late goals off the bench in last Saturday’s 4-2 comeback victory at Bayer Leverkusen, and netted again in the 3-0 Champions League win over Monaco on Wednesday, the 25-year-old Alcacer, on loan from Barcelona, again proved deadly off the bench.
In front of 81,365 fans at Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund slipped 1-0 down after Alfred Finnbogason’s first-half goal.
But Alcacer equalized in the 62nd minute, just three minutes after coming on, with the Spain international smashing home a cross by teenage winger Jadon Sancho, who was called up by England on Thursday for the first time.
Philipp Max restored Augsburg’s lead by taking advantage of some poor Dortmund defending, only for Alcacer to claim his second equalizer on 80 minutes when he fired in off the post.
Dortmund led for the first time on 84 minutes when midfielder Mario Goetze, another second-half replacement, latched onto a great through ball and fired home on his first Bundesliga appearance this season.
The game swung again as Augsburg equalized when Michael Gregoritsch headed home a Max cross to make it 3-3 with just three minutes left.
However, the stage was set for Alcacer to seal the three points after Augsburg’s Sergio Cordova gave away a free-kick.
Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin missed the chance to claim second from Werder Bremen, who won 2-0 at Wolfsburg on Friday, as they were held to a goalless draw at Mainz.
Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic missed a great chance when he hit the Mainz woodwork with a first-half chance.
After losing their first five games, Schalke continue their rise up the table with a 2-0 win at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
US international Weston McKennie who scored in their 1-0 Champions League win at Lokomotiv Moscow in midweek, and Guido Burgstaller grabbed Schalke’s goals to put them 14th.
US striker Bobby Wood scored with two perfectly-timed headers as Hanover 96 picked up their first win of the season with a 3-1 home win against Stuttgart.
Bayern Munich suffered a second consecutive Bundesliga defeat, crashing 3-0 at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach, to drop to fifth in the table on Saturday while Paco Alcacer scored a hat-trick for league leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Pressure is mounting on Bayern head coach Niko Kovac whose side are four points behind Dortmund.
Bayern are winless in their last four games in all competitions and suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time since May 2015, when they had already won the Bundesliga title.
Bayern were 2-0 down after just 16 minutes at the Allianz Arena.
Gladbach striker Alassane Plea beautifully curled a long-range shot around the dive of Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on 10 minutes.