Marco Reus fired red-hot Borussia Dortmund into a three-way tie at the top of the Bundesliga and declared: "We want to keep riding this wave."
The captain was restored to Dortmund's starting line-up on Sunday after sitting out the midweek Champions League win over Chelsea, taking over from Jude Bellingham who dropped to the bench and handed over the armband.
Reus hit a stunning free-kick for Dortmund's third goal in a 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin, thrilling a crowd of 81,365 at Signal Iduna Park, with Karim Adeyemi, Donyell Malen and Julian Brandt also on the scoresheet.
Bellingham came on as a second-half substitute and achieved his 50th Bundesliga victory. At 19 years and 235 days old, it made the England midfielder the youngest player to ever reach that landmark. There could be plenty more to celebrate this season for the teenager.
The only real negative for Dortmund was a leg muscle injury Adeyemi sustained when setting up the second goal for Malen, with the forward likely to be absent for several weeks.
Dortmund have won all eight of their games since the German season resumed after the World Cup and winter break, powering into a tie for top spot having looked out of the title race just a matter of weeks ago.
"Before the winter break, nobody expected it to be so tight at the top of the table," Reus said. "We started a run that we continued today. We want to continue riding this wave, and in the end you will see what comes of it."
Union Berlin are the surprise package in the three-team group at the summit. Opta records show this is the first time in the three-points-for-a-win era, which began in 1995-96, that three teams have been tied on points at the top after matchday 21 in the Bundesliga.
Speaking to DAZN, Reus said: "You win, but you also can't give an inch, otherwise it will be difficult. We don't play the stars from the sky, we are effective. When I scored my free-kick, I realised as soon as the ball left my foot that it could be dangerous.
"I'm happy that after a long time I was able to score a free-kick goal again."
It was a first direct free-kick goal for Reus in the Bundesliga since he scored one against Bayer Leverkusen in May 2021, which itself came after a five-year wait.
The strike came shortly after Bellingham entered the fray, with Dortmund pulling away over the closing quarter.
Union missed a chance to take the outright lead in the title race, only managing a 0-0 draw at home against bottom side Schalke earlier on Sunday.
Bayern hold top spot thanks to their superior goal difference (plus 40), with Dortmund second and Union third, but it is clear this is now a proper title scrap.
The momentum is with Dortmund, given Bayern were beaten 3-2 at Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.
A Klassiker awaits in six weeks' time, when there could be plenty at stake.
Goalscorer Brandt said: "We still have a long way to go, but it's the same for Union and Bayern. We fought our way out of our situation before the winter break extremely well. I'm most happy today for Marco Reus, who scored a wonderful goal."
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic will wait to see how Adeyemi comes through tests on his injury, but the prospects of him returning soon look minimal.
"He probably won't be available to us for the next few games," Terzic said, "but we hope that it won't be too long before he can be back."
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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