Bayern beat Dortmund 4-2 and returned to the top with the debut of coach Tuchel

Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in their new manager Thomas Tuchel’s opening game on Saturday to once again dethrone their rivals at the top of the Bundesliga table with this title-deciding win.

A scream from Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel gave Bayern a lead in the 13th minute, which Thomas Müller made it 3–0 with a brace in the next 10 minutes.

Kingsley Coman grabbed a fourth shortly after the restart before Dortmund saved face from penalties from Emre Can in the 72nd minute and Donyell Malen late on.

Former Dortmund (and Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea) manager Tuchel was replaced during the international break by Julian Nagelsmann who has faced inconsistent performances in the Bundesliga since the January restart which had cost him the championship.

Dortmund had turned a nine-point deficit into a one-point lead in that period with nine wins and a draw in their bid for their first silverware since 2012.

But now they had to swallow a ninth consecutive league defeat in Munich, with a goal difference of 8-37, slipping behind the 10-time defending champions again.

“I was very nervous today. It was a good first step, but there is still a lot of room for improvement,” Tuchel told Sky TV. “Leadership in the league will give us confidence.

“We knew what was at stake. A change of coach always leads to turmoil. The team was 100% ready to suffer. When we played calmly we created great goal chances. At the beginning we were too nervous and a bit sloppy after the break. We lost too many balls.”

Dortmund captain Marco Reus said: “Gregor has won so many games for us. We had to digest that and then suffer again. We are all human and it doesn’t give you confidence. The result doesn’t lie, we deserved the defeat. It wasn’t a Good night.

Looking ahead to the title race, he added: “We made up ground earlier. It won’t be easy but we have to stay in the chase. It’s not over yet.”

Dortmund had gone into the game full of confidence from their long unbeaten run, and Reus was ultimately denied by Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt.

But everything unraveled for the visitors when Kobel’s attempt to clear Dayot Upamecano’s long ball went completely wrong against incumbent Leroy Sane in the 13th minute, and the ball went into the net.

Kobel, returning from injury, said: “I won’t blame it on missing games. There are shitty days, and today was one of them. It hurts a lot.”

The goal shocked Dortmund and Müller beat home De Ligt’s header to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute. Another five minutes later Kobel still didn’t look good from a long-range shot from Sane, allowing Müller to capitalize on the rebound.

Dortmund had come back from two goals to make it 2-2 in the reverse fixture in the autumn, but this time there was no way of coming from behind as Coman made it 4-0 into the far left post five minutes after Sane’s restart .

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had an artistic fifth disallowed for offside before Dortmund entered the table from Can’s spot, after Serge Gnabry brought down Jude Bellingham, and Malen also scored in the 90th minute.

Elsewhere, RB Leipzig’s woes deepened with their third successive defeat in all competitions without scoring, 3-0 at home to in-form Mainz.

Freiburg were held 1-1 by Hertha Berlin, visiting Bayer Leverkusen ended Schalke’s unbeaten run in the second half of the season with a 3-0 win, Wolfsburg drew 2-2 with Augsburg and Union Berlin beat bottom club VfB Stuttgart 3- 0.

Eintracht Frankfurt were held 1-1 by Bochum on Friday. Sunday’s matches are the derby Cologne-Mönchengladbach and Bremen-Hoffenheim.