The Albany Gazette - Diaz dazzles early and Kane strikes again as Bayern beat Frankfurt

England captain Kane's 18th goal in 10 games in all competitions this season helped Bayern move four points clear atop the Bundesliga table heading into the international break.

Bayern got off to a lightning start, Serge Gnabry grabbing an errant Frankfurt pass to set up Diaz for the third-fastest goal in Bundesliga history.

Frankfurt's Jean-Matteo Bahoya looked to have drawn the hosts level with 15 minutes played after an excellent long-range effort, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for a handball against Ritsu Doan in the lead-up.

With 27 minutes gone, Kane thumped a low shot from outside the box past Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos and into the bottom left corner, his 11th league goal in six matches this season.

Kane collided with Santos late in the second half and needed assistance leaving the pitch with a limp, but was able to jog down the touchline before being subbed off.

Despite the injury he said he would be fit for England duty next week.

"I'm okay. It was a contact to the bone. I had it a few weeks ago, and it was in the same spot today. A few days and it'll be fine" he reported.

Diaz scored with six minutes remaining, raising his total to six goals in 10 games since moving from Liverpool in the summer.

- Dortmund held by Leipzig -

Earlier on Saturday, visitors RB Leipzig held Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw.

Yan Couto's 23rd-minute strike for Dortmund cancelled out Christoph Baumgartner's early opener.

Leipzig's Romulo thought he had put the visitors back in front on the half-hour mark but his strike was chalked off for offside.

Both sides had chances late on but were unable to break through, with an unmarked Julian Brandt sending a header over the bar for Dortmund with just two minutes remaining.

"We wanted to win today and we had the chances to do so, but we lacked a bit of luck in the end," Dortmund captain Nico Schlotterbeck told DAZN.

"We wasted a lot of possession up front. A point is OK."

Leipzig took the lead seven minutes in when Assan Ouedraogo outjumped Couto and headed the ball into Baumgartner's path to score.

Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy created the equaliser, holding the ball up centrally before laying it off to Couto, who hit a low shot into the bottom corner.

The draw leaves second-placed Dortmund one point behind league leaders Bayern, who play at Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday's late game.

Leipzig are a point behind Dortmund in third, having rebounded impressively from their 6-0 thrashing by Bayern on the opening weekend.

Leipzig were the last team to defeat Dortmund domestically, in March, since then Borussia have been on a 15-game unbeaten streak, winning 12 of those.

Summer arrivals Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane scored as Bayer Leverkusen beat Union Berlin 2-0 at home to collect their third win of the season.

Poku put the hosts in front 33 minutes in, scoring from a pinpoint Lucas Vazquez cross.

Kofane doubled Leverkusen's lead when he pounced on a poor pass from Union goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow and slid the ball home.

Leverkusen have dropped seven points from winning positions this season, but controlled the match this time.

The one black mark for Leverkusen was a nasty injury to captain Alex Grimaldo, who dropped to the turf after a bloody head clash and was stretchered from the pitch late in the first half.

Samuel Mbangula's second-minute goal was enough for Werder Bremen in a 1-0 home win over St Pauli, the hosts' second victory of the season.

Augsburg bounced back after a run of four defeats with a dominant 3-1 home win over Wolfsburg.

(P.Clark--TAG)