Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund already had the reputation of the biggest game in German football, there’s always a lot to look forward to when the traditional big 2 play each other.
This time a lot of the pre-game chatter was about the two superstar strikers on both teams, built up as the veteran world-class centre forward taking on the young but also world-class centre forward, Robert Lewandowski vs Erling Haaland.
Haaland drew first blood just 74 seconds into the game after he had arrowed an effort that clipped off the boot of Jerome Boateng into the bottom right corner to give Dortmund a precious lead.
Seven minutes later, he was on hand to tap home his and BVB’s 2nd of the night, the Norwegian continuing his great run of form with his 7th goal in his last six games from Thorgan Hazard’s cut-back after Nico Schulz’s positive run.
Of course, Haaland’s brace in the opening 7 minutes would only go on to motivate Lewandowski to do what he does best, the Polish marksman is not used to being upstaged by an opposition striker, especially not in this fixture.
Lewandowski loves playing and scoring in the ‘Der Klassiker for Bayern, for whom he had scored 17 goals in his last 13 Bundesliga games against his former club before this game.
He wasted no time adding to that tally scoring his 18th goal against Dortmund and reducing the deficit by half, finishing Leroy Sane’s cross high into the net after being kept onside by Dan-Axel Zagadou.
Bayern Munich continued to press for an equaliser and it soon came when Mahmoud Dahoud tripped Kingsley Coman in the box, and after consultation with the VAR monitor, Marco Fritz pointed to the spot, a penalty which Lewandowski converted with composure.
Dortmund will feel slightly aggrieved that they didn’t get their own spot-kick after Joshua Kimmich made contact with Marco Reus, but it was deemed not significant enough to warrant a penalty.
Lewandowski then took the lead in his personal duel with Haaland, giving Bayern the lead too in the process with his 31st league goal of the season, 12 more than Haaland who is joint-second with 19 goals.
That goal also sealed his 14th hat-trick for Bayern Munich and ensured that Borussia Dortmund remains without a win at the Allianz Arena since 2014.
Leon Goretzka would make it 4-2 to Bayern, putting the game completely out of reach for Dortmund, securing the win that puts them top of the league, 2 points above RB Leipzig, while Dortmund continues to languish in 6th position.