Japan midfielder Shinji Kagawa scored one goal and set up another as Borussia Dortmund beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 to reclaim top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday.
Kagawa set up Jonas Hofmann with a perfect cross-field pass to give Dortmund a deserved lead in the 19th minute, and then scored in the 58th from close range after some good play from Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed the result with a penalty in the 74th, awarded after Brazilian defender Wendell brought down Matthias Ginter.
Adnan Januzaj, Kagawa, Gundogan and Marcel Schmelzer all missed good chances to add to the score as the home side put on a show for the fans. Former Leverkusen midfielder Gonzalo Castro struck the crossbar in the final minute.
Dortmund moved back ahead of Bayern Munich on goal difference with both sides perfect after five games played. Bayern won 3-0 at promoted SV Darmstadt 98 on Saturday.
The win over Leverkusen was Dortmund’s club record 11th win across all competitions since the season began under new coach Thomas Tuchel.
“We’re already hearing the first songs about [winning] the championship,” Hofmann said. “We’ll let the fans dream and carry on our own way.”
Germany attacking midfielder Marco Reus returned from a fractured toe to take his place on the bench, though Tuchel saw no need to play him.
First-half goals from Alexander Esswein and Paul Verhaegh were enough for Augsburg to defeat visiting Hannover 96 2-0.
Earlier on Sunday, Leroy Sane’s second-half strike was enough for Schalke 04 to win 1-0 at VfB Stuttgart to take fourth. Sane struck on a counterattack in the 53rd minute after running onto Johannes Geis’ long ball and shaking off a defender. Stuttgart had dominated the game, only to falter against the visiting defense and goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann, who made vital saves against Christian Gentner and Daniel Ginczek.
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