Superb Olise Powers Bayern to Eight-Point Lead in Bundesliga

Michael Olise netted a brace and provided three assists as Bayern Munich overturned a two-goal deficit to defeat Freiburg 6-2 at home in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Olise assisted strikes from Lennart Karl, Dayot Upamecano and Nicolas Jackson, with Harry Kane also finding the net as Bayern found their rhythm, having fallen behind to early efforts from Freiburg's Yuito Suzuki and Johan Manzambi.

The victory propelled Bayern eight points clear at the summit, following Borussia Dortmund's stumble against Stuttgart at home.

Considering the midweek journey to Arsenal, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany rotated his squad, benching skipper Joshua Kimmich and sparing ex-Arsenal attacker Serge Gnabry.

The decision seemed misguided initially, as Suzuki and Manzambi capitalised on set-pieces to give Freiburg a two-goal advantage.

Bayern responded fiercely, with young winger Karl latching onto an Olise through-ball to slot home. The teenager then set up Bayern's equaliser for Olise, who repaid him with a close-range deflection into the goal for the Frenchman's effort.

Karl saw a goal disallowed for offside early in the second half, but Bayern went ahead soon afterwards, Upamecano converting from an Olise corner.

Kane added his name to the scoresheet with 30 minutes left, rifling in from near post for Bayern's fourth. The England skipper now boasts 24 goals across 18 outings in all competitions this term, with 14 from 11 Bundesliga appearances.

Olise laid on the fifth for Jackson before capping his masterclass with a late strike, sealing the turnaround for the reigning German title holders, who have leaked only two points from 18 fixtures in all tournaments this season.

Borussia Dortmund twice held the lead but were levelled each time in a 3-3 home stalemate with Stuttgart, where the away side's German forward Deniz Undav bagged a second-half treble.

Penalties from Emre Can and a Maximilian Beier finish put Dortmund 2-0 ahead at the break. Undav struck either side of Serhou Guirassy's disallowed offside goal for the hosts.

Dortmund believed victory was theirs after Karim Adeyemi's late counter-attack goal, but Undav notched his third in the opening moments of added time to earn a share of the spoils.

Dortmund have failed to overcome Stuttgart in any fixture since October 2022, suffering five defeats and two draws in the interim.

In other action, Bayer Leverkusen eased to a 3-1 success at Wolfsburg, courtesy of goals from Jonas Hofmann, Edmond Tapsoba and Malik Tillman.

This result lifted Leverkusen above Dortmund and Stuttgart into second place. The 2024 Bundesliga winners have gathered 22 out of 27 available points since Kasper Hjulmand took over, replacing Erik ten Hag who was dismissed after merely two league matches.

Anton Kade's lone strike secured Augsburg a 1-0 home triumph over Hamburg, while Borussia Moenchengladbach inflicted a 3-0 defeat on rock-bottom Heidenheim away from home.

Newly promoted Cologne welcome Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday.