Dortmund remain top after Alcacer hattrick, Bayern thumped at home
BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund stayed on top of the Bundesliga by beating Augsburg 4-3 thanks to a remarkable 30-minute hattrick from substitute Paco Alcacer while titleholders Bayern Munich were thumped 3-0 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
An extraordinary see-saw match in Dortmund on Saturday produced four goals in the last 10 minutes as the hosts hit back from 2-1 down to lead 3-2, defiant Augsburg equalised and Alcacer grabbed the winner with the last kick of the game.
Bayern, on the other hand, fell two goals behind in the first 16 minutes as they slumped to their fourth match without a win in all competitions – a crisis by the exacting standards of the Bavarian side.
Alcacer, on loan from Barcelona, has scored a remarkable six goals in three league appearances, all of them as substitute, and a total of 81 minutes playing time.
Alfred Finnbogason gave Augsburg a half-time lead before Alcacer scored with his first touch in the 62nd minute, three minutes after coming on, as he turned in Bremen 2 Wolfsburg 0, Mainz 0 Hertha Berlin 0, Hannover 3 Stuttgart 1, Fortuna Dusseldorf 0 Schalke 2, Dortmund 4 Augsburg 3, Bayern 0 Moenchengladbach 3.
Leading standings: Dortmund 17, Moenchengladbach 14, Bremen 14, Hertha Berlin 14, Bayern 13.
Jadon Sancho’s pass following a lethal counter-attack.
Philipp Max volleyed Augsburg back in front before Alcacer levelled again in the 80th minute, getting away from his marker to latch on to a free-kick and score with a shot on the turn.
Substitute Mario Goetze, playing his first league match of the season, put Dortmund ahead for the first time four minutes later.
Michael Gregoritsch headed Augsburg level from a corner in the 87th minute but the drama was still not over.
Augsburg substitute Sergio Cordova clumsily gave away a freekick with a high challenge and Alcacer curled his shot around the wall in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
“It was not our best game, but it was fantastic for the spectators and for us. We kept trying; it was very hard to find a few gaps and Augsburg are very dangerous,” said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre.
Gladbach have often been Bayern’s tormentors over the last few years and so it proved again.
Alassane Plea fired home from the edge of the penalty area following a quick exchange of passes in the 10th minute and Lars Stindl fired the second after Jonas Hofmann dispossessed Thiago Alcantara as he tried to play the ball out of defence.
Bayern dominated possession only to be caught out again on the break as Patrick Herrmann fired the third with two minutes left, the goal being confirmed by a VAR review.
“I said a few words to the team but that should stay in the dressing room,” said Bayern coach Nico Kovac who is in his first season in charge.
“We made too many individual mistakes. Sometimes you have good times, then you have bad times, everybody is trying but at the moment it is not working out. You have to work as a unit, with the ball and without the ball.”