The top three all won at home, a week after winning away and contesting midweek Champions League matches, as the top of the Bundesliga table will remain the same after Week 5.
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RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, and RB Leipzig will all be happy with their wins for varying reasons, as the leaders all improved their stock on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Schalke
Derby day came at a weird time for struggling Schalke, who claimed its first point of an insipid campaign last week and knew it would:
- A) Not have to worry about a packed Westfalenstadion
- B) Face a Dortmund team that faced Lazio at midweek
Regardless, they hung tight with their rivals into the second half, when an unlikely match-winner strode forward for BVB.
Manuel Akanji’s 55th-minute goal was soon joined on the scoresheet by a more traditional scorer, Erling Haaland putting a Jadon Sancho feed in the back of the net. Raphael Guerriero assisted BVB’s final goal, a Mats Hummels number.
U.S. international Giovanni Reyna subbed off after 72 minutes, as BVB held its 2-0 lead with 76 percent possession. Reyna finished with 71 touches, 12-of-18 duels won, and six fouls drawn. Six!
ERLING HAALAND WITH A PERFECT CHIP!
— ESPN (@espn) October 24, 2020
He gives Dortmund a 2-0 lead in the Revierderby! pic.twitter.com/gRneRCkBk4
Bayern Munich 5-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Robert Lewandowski scored another hat trick as Bayern battered Eintracht but not without bad news.
The dark clouds that loomed over the result had to do with a 3rd-minute exit from Alphonso Davies, who suffered ankle ligament damage and will miss 6-8 weeks.
Substitutes Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala also scored for Bayern, with Bouna Sarr, Joshua Kimmich, Kingsley Coman, and Douglas Costa collecting assists.
Mainz 2-3 Borussia Monchengladbach
Mainz’s woes continued with a thrown-away lead against Champions League-weary Gladbach at home.
Lars Stindl had put the visitors up early but a Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled had the pointless hosts in line for three points at the break.
But Gladbach boss Marco Rose brought on a flurry of stars between the 54th and 60th minute, with Jonas Hoffman, Florian Neuhaus, Alassane Plea, and Marcus Thuram entering the fray.
Sure enough, Hoffman converted a 76th-minute penalty and assisted Matthias Ginter’s 83rd-minute winner to keep Gladbach within sight of the leaders as one of three sides with a 2W-2D-1L record.
Mainz is now 0-5 with a minus-11 goal differential, and has already sacked a manager this season.
Elsewhere
Stuttgart 1-1 Koln -- Friday
Union Berlin 1-1 Freiburg
RB Leipzig 2-1 Hertha Berlin
Wolfsburg v Arminia Bielefeld -- 10:30 pm ET Sunday
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim -- 1 pm ET Sunday
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg -- 3:30 pm ET Monday