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Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in the first Der Klassiker of the league season at the Signal Iduna Park to go top of the 2020-21 Bundesliga.
Marco Reus opened the scoring for the hosts, but David Alaba, Robert Lewandowski and substitute Leroy Sane struck once apiece to seemingly put the tie to bed.
Erling Haaland pulled one back late on to provide BVB hope, but the defending champions weathered a late storm to pick up another three points.
On that note, let us have a look at the five hits and flops from either team in the game:
Hit: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Roman Burki (Borussia Dortmund)
Both goalkeepers were terrific in the game and worthy of being labeled as 'hits'. Roman Burki was the busier of the two keepers for most of the match, and despite conceding three goals, he pulled off some exceptional saves to prevent Bayern Munich from running away with the game.
He made four saves in total, one more than Manuel Neuer in the game. However, the Bayern Munich custodian demonstrated his sweeper-keeper skills once again by charging out of his box to clear any lingering danger and showed strong hands to deny Reus from close range too.
Neuer has returned to his best form again after his horrific metatarsal injury three years ago while Burki has been Dortmund's number one choice at goal for half a decade now. The first Der Klassiker of the league season provided a glorious exhibition of the goalkeeping prowess of the two keepers.
Flop: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
One of the most sought-after prospects in Europe, Jadon Sancho has developed into a world-class talent since arriving at Borussia Dortmund in 2017. However, his poor record in big games like the Der Klassiker still has the jury out on him.
The English international had another stinker against the champions, rarely threatening the Bayern defence, let alone scoring against them. Lucas Hernandez deserves plenty of credit for that.
The Frenchman firmly kept the 20-year old in check and read his dribbles well. Sancho attempted five but completed only one while he only completed 78% of his passes.
Interestingly, Jadon Sancho has not scored against Bayern Munich in the league in six games now, an anomaly he'd like to correct soon.
Hit: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
After a quiet first half, the young Norwegian fireball burst into life in the second stanza and scored in the 83rd minute to give Borussia Dortmund hope of salvaging something from the game, but that was not to be.
Nevertheless, his electric pace and swift movement exposed Bayern Munich's high line as the champions were on the tenterhooks during the final exchanges.
Even when the scoreline read 3-1 in the visitors' favour, Bayern Munich pushed forward for another goal, leaving plenty of gaps at the back. Haaland stationed himself in the pockets of space between Bayern Munich's backline and broke forward as soon as an opportunity arose.
He was rewarded for his energy and eagerness with a goal but continued to push for an equaliser till the very end, which was very commendable.
Flop: Bouna Sarr (Bayern Munich)
Eyebrows were raised when Bayern Munich moved to sign Bouna Sarr from Olympique Marseille in the summer despite having three options at the right-back position. However, two assists on his competitive debut for the club suggested that he was perhaps a decent signing.
Yet, it's in big games like the Der Klassiker where a player's true worth can be measured. On current evidence, the 28-year old still has a long way to go. Against Borussia Dortmund, he offered nothing in the way of attack, and defensively too, he came a cropper, failing to get anywhere near Giovanni Reyna or Sancho.
Hit: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
There's something about his former employers that spurs Robert Lewandowski on. Borussia Dortmund have been one of his favourite punching bags since leaving the club in 2014.
So it was no surprise to see the Pole get on the scoresheet in the Klassiker again, which also coincidentally happened to be his 300th game for Bayern Munich.
After having a goal disallowed by the slimmest of margins early on, the 31-year old headed the visitors in front after the break by latching onto Hernandez's cross and then set up Leroy Sane for the third after breaking on the counter.
The striker had another goal ruled out at the death, but Bayern Munich had already done enough damage by then to hold on to the win.
Lewandowski has now scored 19 times against Dortmund in 22 games, the most he's managed for the Bavarians against any opposition. It was also his 11th league goal of the season from just six top-flight games. Another Golden Boot on the cards for him?
