England captain Harry Kane made Bundesliga history as he became the first man to score four hat-tricks in a debut season as Bayern Munich routed lowly Mainz 8-1.
Kane struck after 13 minutes, in first-half stoppage time and 20 minutes from the whistle to take his tally for the season to 30 league goals, in the process equalling Uwe Seeler’s record in a first campaign in Germany’s top flight.
Leon Goretzka helped himself to a double and goals from Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala and substitute Serge Gnabry, with Nadiem Amiri replying for the visitors, completed a win which eased Bayern back to within seven points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who host Wolfsburg on Sunday.
There were goals too at Borussia Park as Monchengladbach and Cologne played out a 3-3 thriller.
Faride Alidou put the visitors in front after just seven minutes and then restored their advantage after Franck Honorat had levelled.
Robin Hack made it 2-2 and then fired the home side ahead with his goals coming in as many minutes, but Damion Downs ensured the spoils were shared.
Ten-man Borussia Dortmund maintained their place in the top four with a battling 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.
The visitors looked to be cruising when first-half goals from Donyell Malen and Jadon Sancho put them 2-0 up, but Marcel Sabitzer’s stoppage-time dismissal for a challenge on Mitchell Weiser left his side up against it, although Justin Njinmah’s strike 20 minutes from time was as good as it got for the hosts.
Thomas Isherwood’s own goal and a second from Christoph Baumgartner handed RB Leipzig a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Darmstadt, while Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s first-half strike was enough to hand Augsburg a 1-0 win over Heidenheim.
Inter Milan moved 18 points clear at the top of Serie A with a hard-fought victory at Bologna.
Yann Bisseck’s first-half header clinched a 13th successive win in all competitions and stretched Inter’s advantage over second-placed Juventus, who host Atalanta on Sunday.
Substitute Eldor Shomurodov scored twice to help ease Cagliari to a precious 4-2 victory over bottom-of-the-table Salernitana.
First-half efforts from Gianluca Lapadula and Gianluca Gaetano and Shomurodov’s first put the home side 3-0 ahead and although Grigoris Kastanos and Giulio Maggiore dragged the visitors back into it, Shomurodov made sure with 14 minutes remaining.
Kristian Thorstvedt fired Sassuolo to a first league win in nine attempts as his goal secured a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Frosinone, for whom substitute Kaio Jorge missed a late penalty.
Substitute Daniel Maldini came to Monza’s rescue with a late winner to see off Genoa in a mid-table battle at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.
The visitors led 2-0 through Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota, but goals from Albert Gudmundsson and Vitinha made it 2-2 before Maldini won it with 11 minutes left.
In LaLiga, fine finishes from Portu and Savio sent Girona back above Barcelona into second place courtesy of a battling win over Osasuna.
Portu’s sweet first-half strike and a deft toe-poke from Savio sealed a 2-0 victory at the Municipal de Montilivi Stadium in which Michel’s men created enough chances to have won far more comfortably.
Real Sociedad needed a late goal from Andre Silva to maintain their bid for a top-six finish with a 3-2 win at Granada.
The hosts led 1-0 and 2-1 courtesy of Myrto Uzini’s double either side of Umar Sadiq’s equaliser, but were pegged back with 10 minutes remaining when Robin Le Normand levelled to set the stage for Silva to win it five minutes later.
Juanmi scored either side of half-time as Cadiz dented Atletico Madrid’s top-four hopes with a 2-0 win at the Ramon de Carranza Stadium, while Hugo Duro’s 40th-minute goal proved sufficient to secure a 1-0 home victory for Valencia over Getafe.
Ruben Aguilar’s first-half header dashed Brest’s hopes of closing the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain as they went down 1-0 at Lens, while second-half goals from Nicolas Tagliafico and Mama Balde secured a 2-0 win for Lyon at Lorient.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
