Haaland scores on return to help Dortmund to Bundesliga lead

He's back. Erling Haaland scored on his return from injury for Borussia Dortmund to move atop the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Defending champion Bayern Munich can restore its previous one-point lead with a win over Arminia Bielefeld in the late match, a week before Dortmund hosts Bayern for one the league's most anticipated games of the season.

Haaland hadn't played in the Bundesliga since Oct. 16 when he scored twice in a win at Mainz. He played three days later in Dortmund's loss at Ajax in the Champions League, then dropped out with muscular problems.

Coach Marco Rose delighted Dortmund fans on Friday when he said Haaland may return sooner than originally thought and he followed through by bringing on the Norway forward in the 72nd minute in Wolfsburg.

Haaland promptly drew a save from Wolfsburg goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, then scored in the 81st with an acrobatic finish to Julian Brandt's cross. It was Haaland's 50th goal on his 50th Bundesliga appearance.

Dortmund was without influential midfielder Jude Bellingham due to a knee injury, but the visitors did well after going behind to a shock early goal.

Wout Weghorst struck in the second minute when he got his chest to Ridle Baku's cross. It was Wolfsburg's first goal against Dortmund in 10 league games since Daniel Didavi scored in a 5-1 loss in 2016.

Dortmund equalized through a penalty from Emre Can in the 35th.

The spot kick was awarded for a clumsy challenge on Marco Reus by Maxence Lacroix, who was booked. The Dortmund captain needed treatment on his right ankle but could continue.

Reus was able to set up Donyell Malen for his second Bundesliga goal in as many games in the 55th. The Dutch forward made way for Haaland to make his seventh Bundesliga appearance of the season. He celebrated with his 10th goal.

COLOGNE WINS DERBY

Sebastian Andersson scored in injury time as Cologne beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-1 in their Rhine derby in front of 50,000 fans. Cologne was allowed to sell out its stadium despite record coronavirus infection rates across Germany.

There were few clear chances in the first half of a hard-fought game. Cologne's Dejan Ljubicic broke the deadlock in the 55th when he curled the ball inside the top right corner after Benno Schmitz laid it back.

Gladbach coach Adi Hütter responded by bringing on Marcus Thuram and Florian Neuhaus to bolster his team's attacking threat in the 66th. It paid off when Jonas Hofmann equalized in the 74th.

But a wayward pass from Neuhaus allowed Cologne forward Mark Uth to score in the 77th, Ondrej Duda made it 3-1 a minute later, and Andersson had the final say.

HERTHA'S UNHAPPY END

Augsburg substitute Michael Gregoritsch scored in the seventh minute of injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin. The game ended with a red card for Hertha coach Pál Dárdai's assistant.

Hertha's winless run extended to four games.

Hertha players' lack of confidence after last week's loss at city rival Union Berlin was evident as they committed mistake after mistake against Augsburg.

But they benefited from a mistake by Augsburg defender Robert Gumny – taking the ball away from his own goalkeeper – that allowed Marco Richter to nip in and score against the run of play in the 40th. Richter joined Hertha from Augsburg in the offseason and didn't celebrate his goal.

Hertha missed chances to seal the win before Gregoritsch's last-gasp equalizer.

Also, Hoffenheim routed lastplace Greuther Fürth 6-3 away, and Bochum came from behind to beat visiting Freiburg 2-1. Milos Pantovic scored the winner from almost the halfway line.

Liverpool toys with Southampton in latest attacking clinic

Diogo Jota celebrated his early goal by sitting on the Anfield turf, crossing his legs and pretending to play on a gaming console.

Liverpool simply toyed with Southampton in the English Premier League on Saturday.

In another masterful display by the best attack in the league, Liverpool swept to a 4-0 win. It has scored at least two goals in its last 17 games in all competitions.

Needless to say, Jürgen Klopp's ruthless team is comfortably the top scorer in the Premier League with 39 — no other side is within eight — and the latest victory pulled Liverpool to within a point of leader Chelsea, which doesn't play until Sunday against Manchester United.

Jota led Liverpool with two goals — the first coming inside two minutes, with his celebration perhaps a nod to his offfield penchant for gaming. Indeed, he won a FIFA 20 tournament played by Premier League players while soccer was suspended last year following the coronavirus outbreak.

Thiago Alcantara's deflected strike and Virgil van Dijk's volley completed the scoring against a Southampton team whose bold approach of deploying three strikers at Anfield backfired in spectacular fashion.

Liverpool was 3-0 ahead after 37 minutes and could easily have doubled its final goals tally.

Liverpool's front-foot style is something Eddie Howe is trying to bring to Newcastle after taking over at the Saudi-controlled north-east club, but it might take some time.

A 2-0 loss at Arsenal extended Newcastle's winless start in the league to 13 games and the last-placed team fell further adrift on Saturday, with nextto-last Norwich drawing at home to Wolverhampton 0-0.

Meanwhile, Liverpool great Steven Gerrard's start to life as a Premier League manager couldn't be going any better.

Aston Villa has two straight wins under Gerrard, the latest 2-1 at Crystal Palace.