BERLIN: Luis Diaz hit a hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrashed 10-man Hoffenheim 5-1 on Sunday to restore their six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

Harry Kane converted two Bayern penalties, both won by Diaz, to move up to 24 league goals for the season and 38 in all competitions.

The visitors’ hopes took an early hit when Kevin Akpoguma was harshly adjudged to have fouled Diaz in the box and saw red.

Kane converted the result spot-kick but Manuel Neuer let Hoffenheim back into the match just minutes later, playing the ball directly to Fisnik Asllani, who squared for Andrej Kramaric to tap home.

Diaz earned another penalty after 44 minutes and Kane stuck it away once more and immediately repaid the Colombian for his generosity, threading a pass on the counter for the former Liverpool man to guide home in first-half stoppage time.

Diaz tapped in a Michael Olise pass midway through the second half to pad Bayern’s lead before completing his hat-trick with a shot from outside the box in the final minute.

Earlier on Sunday, goals in each half from Christoph Baumgartner lifted RB Leipzig to a 2-1 win at Cologne and up into fourth.

“It’s incredibly tight up there -- we can’t afford to make any mistakes,” Baumgartner said of the top-four battle.” Stuttgart’s loss to St Pauli on Cologne’s teenage winger Said El Mala went close twice in the opening stages but Baumgartner put the visitors in front after 29 minutes, heading in a dipping David Raum free-kick.

Just after the break, Cologne’s Jan Thielmann was off balance but somehow managed to stick an impressive shot in the top left corner to level the scores.

Leipzig hit back immediately however, Baumgartner collecting a low pass from Austria teammate Xaver Schlager on the turn before blasting home.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2026