Bayern flying on Heynckes' return; Dortmund home record over
BERLIN (AP) - Jupp Heynckes' fourth stint at Bayern Munich began with a rout then Leipzig ended Borussia Dortmund's club-record 41-game unbeaten run at home in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Leipzig's 3-2 win was league-leader Dortmund's first Bundesliga defeat at the Westfalenstadion since April 4, 2015, a 1-0 defeat to Bayern.
Heynckes cut the gap at the top to two points with his side's 5-0 rout of Freiburg in Munich.
Heynckes got off to a perfect start with an own-goal from Julian Schuster, a diving header from Kingsley Coman, and second-half goals from Thiago Alcantara, Robert Lewandowski and Joshua Kimmich.
The margin of victory also helped restore some of the swagger missing after Bayern's lackluster start to the season.
The 72-year-old Heynckes - who won the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble in his previous stint with Bayern before retiring in 2013 - was coaxed into returning after Carlo Ancelotti was fired.
Also, Schalke won at Hertha Berlin 2-0 and Eintracht Frankfurt scored late to beat Hannover 2-1. Augsburg also struck late to salvage a 2-2 draw at Hoffenheim, and Mainz defeated Hamburger SV 3-2.
JUPP'S RETURN
Even opponents were happy to see Heynckes return after almost 4 1/2 years out of the game.
Freiburg coach Christian Streich sought him out and gave Heynckes a warm embrace before they walked out to the field.
Heynckes brushed off any concerns the game might have moved on in his absence by insisting "Football has not been reinvented," and he stuck with what he knew by putting offseason arrivals Niklas Suele, James Rodriguez, Sebastian Rudy and record signing Corentin Tolisso in the reserves.
His team took an eighth-minute lead through Schuster's own-goal under pressure from Thomas Mueller. Coman made it 2-0 with a diving header.
Bayern let a two-goal lead slip in its previous two league games, but Thiago allayed any fears of it happening again when he fired in the third after an hour.
Lewandowski claimed his ninth of the season, and Kimmich provided the garnish by scoring with his heel in injury time.
"It was unbelievably important to have a good start," said Heynckes, who has started with a win in each of his four terms in charge.
RECORD BROKEN
Dortmund's unbeaten run at home was the league's fifth longest since its formation in 1963.
The side didn't have long to wait before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stayed cool to score inside the far post in the fourth minute.
Marcel Sabitzer answered minutes later with a header from close range, and Dortmund's defense was at fault again when Bruma eluded Jeremy Toljan to set up Yussuf Poulsen.
It got worse for Dortmund after the break when Sokratis was sent off for bringing down Jean-Kevin Augustin, who dusted himself off to score the ensuing penalty.
Leipzig's Stefan Ilsanker was sent off minutes later with two yellow cards in quick succession, both for fouls.
Aubameyang's second, a penalty, set up a frenetic finale, but Andrey Yarmolenko missed the best chance to equalize.
HERTHA PROTEST
Hertha Berlin nodded to social struggles in the United States by kneeling before its home game. The starting lineup all linked arms and took a knee on the field, while coaching staff, officials and substitutes took a knee off it.
On Twitter, the Bundesliga club said "Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility! For a tolerant Berlin and an open-minded world, now and forevermore!"
The side's hopes took a blow before the break when Genki Haraguchi was sent off with a direct red card for a dangerous challenge on Schalke forward Guido Burgstaller. The Japan midfielder apologized straight away.
Hertha didn't have a shot at goal in the first half. Leon Goretzka fired Schalke ahead from the penalty spot early in the second, and Burgstaller wrapped it with just over 10 minutes remaining.