Berlin: Borussia Dortmund reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga from Bayern Munich on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Hertha Berlin — their eighth straight win under new coach Thomas Tuchel.
As the only teams in Germany’s top flight to have won their opening three matches, Dortmund are matching Bayern’s impressive early form as the Bavarians bid to become the first side to win fourth straight German titles.
Dortmund are top on goal difference from Bayern, who romped to a 3-0 home win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Borussia saw off Hertha at their Westfalenstadion with goals from captain Mats Hummels, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adrian Ramos.
“The hardest thing today was to keep the pace up,” said Hummels, who said his side were feeling the effects of Thursday’s 7-2 win at home to Odds BK to qualify for the Europa League’s group stages.
“It wasn’t a good performance from us, but we still won.
“We could have decided it earlier and it was annoying to concede the late goal, because we were a little flat.”
Pitchside temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) meant frequent water breaks as Dortmund continued their red-hot form as Hummels powered home a Shinji Kagawa cross on 27 minutes.
Aubamenyang claimed his seventh goal in eight games after right-back Matthias Ginter combined with Kagawa to set up a simple tap-in on 51 minutes.
Ex-Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou pulled a goal back for Hertha on 78 minutes before Colombia striker Adrian Ramos came off the bench to score Borussia’s third in injury time.
Champions League side Borussia Moenchengladbach are enduring their worst start to a Bundesliga season as three straight league defeats left them bottom after losing 2-1 at Werder Bremen.
Bremen’s American striker Aron Johannsson netted a first-half penalty before Gladbach’s Lars Stindl levelled just before the break, but towering Denmark defender Jannik Vestergaard headed the winner on 53 minutes.
Gladbach’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka was sent off for a second yellow card on 87 minutes, but Felix Kroos, brother of Real Madrid star Toni, fired the subsequent penalty wide.
