Berlin (AFP)

Two goals, an assist and a penalty obtained: Christopher Nkunku, the French striker from Leipzig, was the man of the day on Saturday in the Bundesliga, allowing the RB to finally start their season by crushing Hertha Berlin 6-0.

Simultaneously, the former co-leader Wolfsburg was beaten in Hoffenheim (3-1) and stagnated at 13 pts, leaving Bayern (16 pts) now alone in the lead after six days, the day after their 3-1 victory at Le promoted Fürth.

The joy of Hoffenheim defender, Czech Pavel Kaderabek, after scoring the third goal against Wolfsburg, during their Bundesliga match, September 25, 2021 in Sinsheim Daniel ROLAND AFP

Dortmund, which has 12 points, can remain the only team in contact with the "Rekordmeister", provided they win in the evening (6.30pm) at Mönchengladbach.

Poured into the group of Paris SG and Manchester City in the Champions League, the RB had completely missed the start of the season, with only one victory in the league over the first five days.

Nkunku, the 23-year-old striker trained in Paris SG, had tried to wake up the sleeping "Red Bulls" with a sumptuous hat-trick against Manchester City on September 15 in C1, but the RB had lost 6-3 and the The Frenchman's feat had gone a little unnoticed.

On Saturday, the ex-international Espoir crushed Hertha with his whole class.

Four times, he was thrown in depth and found himself alone against the goalkeeper: he won his first duel (1-0, 16th), lost the next one, did not frame his third shot, and finally was broke in the box for his last attempt, giving his teammate Emil Forsberg the opportunity to score the penalty of 4-0.

- Ovation -

In the meantime, on a counter led to the left, he had centered to offer Yussuf Poulsen the ball of 2-0 on a plateau.

Then he concluded his gala with a small masterpiece: a direct free kick perfectly rolled over the wall and stuck in the skylight of the unfortunate Alexander Schwolow (5-0, 70th).

French Leipzig midfielder Christopher Nkunku (r) facing Hertha Berlin counterpart Lucas Tousart in the Bundesliga home match on October 24, 2020 Odd ANDERSEN AFP / Archives

His trainer Jesse Marsch took him out shortly before the end, so that he received the deserved ovation of the 25,000 spectators (Covid limit) of the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.

RB Leipzig struggled to digest the offseason departures of several of their major assets, including star coach Julian Nagelsmann who left for Munich with two of their best players, Blues central defender Dayot Upamecano, and the Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer lung.

These three points allow him to finally extricate himself from the bottom of the table, to temporarily rise to tenth position with seven points.

And no doubt to finally have the reference match that had been lacking since August.

Beating Hertha Berlin will not, however, make us forget that this team, semi-finalist of the 2020 Champions League with Nagelsmann, has been clearly outclassed this season by the big guys: the 4-1 defeat at home against Bayern hurt, especially since it was followed by Manchester City 6-3.

On Wednesday, the Red Bull Arena receives FC Bruges, the only team in the Champions League group theoretically within the reach of the RB.

A victory would put the Saxons back in the race before the trip to Paris on October 19.

© 2021 AFP