On the same day that Manuel Neuer made his comeback to action in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich trounced Darmstadt 8-0. Hat-trick hero Harry Kane scored one of the goals for Bayern Munich from within his own half.
Kane scored Bayern’s fifth goal and his second of the match by lobbing Darmstadt’s custodian Marcel Schuhen from the centre circle. The goal came as Bayern tore Darmstadt apart on a rollercoaster day for the champions.
“I’m going home a very happy man today,” said veteran keeper Neuer, who made his first appearance after almost a year out with a fractured leg. “I’m going home a very happy man today,” he remarked.
However, Neuer’s comeback started out with Bayern in the worst position possible.
Joshua Kimmich was the first player to receive a sending off prior to halftime in a match that set a record for the most red cards shown before the break in the history of the Bundesliga.
After losing control of the ball too easily in front of the goal, the Bayern midfielder was shown a red card for knocking down Marvin Mehlem and sending him to the ground.
“It was a stupid red card and I’m very annoyed,” said Kimmich, who will not be able to play for Bayern in their upcoming match against Borussia Dortmund because of the suspension.
Just 17 minutes later, Darmstadt’s dreams of pulling off a historic victory were destroyed when Bayern’s Konrad Laimer was taken down on the edge of the penalty area by Darmstadt’s Klaus Gjasula, who was shown a red card for his actions.
After thereafter, shortly before halftime, the away team was reduced to nine men when Matej Maglica was sent the red card for a virtually identical challenge on Kane.
Shortly before the halftime, a goal scored by Leroy Sane was called back because it was determined that he was offside. However, Bayern stormed out of the gates in the second half, scoring seven goals in only 25 minutes.
Kane ultimately broke the deadlock with a low header from close range, and Sane soon after extended the advantage with a tap-in to make it 2-0.
After that, Jamal Musiala and Sane finished off some beautiful long-range opportunities in rapid succession, which put the game out of reach for Darmstadt.
Before Thomas Mueller and Musiala scored a sixth and a seventh, Kane put the icing on the victory with a long-range screamer that put the game out of reach for the opposition.
Regarding Kane’s strike, Kimmich remarked that it was “an incredible goal.”
Just two minutes before the game was over, the captain of England scored his third goal, completing his second hat trick in nine games played in the Bundesliga this season.
Rogues in the sky Hoffenheim defeated Stuttgart at home for the first time this season in a thrilling derby match, 3-2, and handed Stuttgart their first loss of the year at home.
Grischa Proemel scored for Hoffenheim in the first minute of the match on a rebound after custodian Alexander Nuebel made a spectacular save. Hoffenheim had hit Stuttgart on the counterattack early in the match.
Shortly after that, they extended their lead to 2-0 when Wout Weghorst successfully converted a penalty kick awarded to them after Maximilian Beier was fouled inside the penalty area.
The day went even worse for Stuttgart when Deniz Undav missed a penalty at the other end, but the atmosphere shifted when Chris Fuehrich scored a goal for the home team just before the hour mark.
Conflict within the Union
With a loss of 2-0 at away against Werder Bremen, Union Berlin’s winless streak was extended to a new ignominious low of 10 games.
Shortly before the half, Union’s Robin Knoche headed the ball into his own net during a free-kick taken by Bremen. After the break, Bremen midfielder Rani Khedira was sent off for a risky challenge, and Union’s Robin Knoche scored an own goal.
Marvin Ducksch scored one more with a deft lob to further complicate an already dire situation for Union.
In other action, Augsburg defeated Wolfsburg by a score of 3-2 after coming from behind, and Borussia Moenchengladbach prevailed against Heidenheim by a score of 2-1.
After Jonas Wind had equalised Phillip Tietz’s early opener for Augsburg, Croatian international Lovro Majer scored his first goal from the penalty spot to put Wolfsburg ahead just before halftime. This came after Wind had cancelled out Tietz’s early goal for Augsburg.
Wolfsburg appeared to be in control of the game until a peculiar own goal scored by Sebastiaan Bornauw tied the score at 79 minutes, and then Arne Engels scored the game-winning goal for Augsburg a few minutes later.
Gladbach took an early lead thanks to a goal from Alassane Plea, and the home team appeared to be in control of the game until Eren Dinkci scored an equaliser against the run of play after 38 minutes.
Shortly after the halftime break, Gladbach regained the lead thanks to an unfortunate own goal scored by Jonas Foehrenbach.