Another Kane hat trick as Bayern beats Hoffenheim for Bundesliga record start

BERLIN (AP) — That man again.

Harry Kane scored his second hat trick of the season on Saturday to steer Bayern Munich to a 4-1 win at Hoffenheim for the best Bundesliga start any team has made after four rounds.

The England captain scored before the break and converted two penalties after it to take his club tally to 12 goals in six games across all competitions — 13 goals in seven games including the German Supercup.

Kane's other hat trick was in the Bundesliga-opening 6-0 rout of Leipzig.

Bayern's record of 12 points with a goal difference of 15-plus is the best after four rounds of the Bundesliga since it started in 1963.

Bayern was fortunate Hoffenheim did not capitalize on its early dominance after coach Vincent Kompany opted to rotate his squad with five changes from the team that defeated Chelsea 3-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday — Kane scored twice in that game.

Among them, Nicolas Jackson made his first start since his switch from Chelsea, and the 17-year-old Lennart Karl made his first Bundesliga start for Bayern.

Hoffenheim’s Fisnik Asllani only struck the post after getting a gift from Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, who kicked the ball straight to the Hoffenheim forward after a back pass from Jonathan Tah.

Hoffenheim remained the better side until Karl caught its defense by surprise with a corner that Kane ran to meet at the near post to fire Bayern ahead in the 44th.

“It's important when the first half isn't perfect that we show a reaction. We did that,” Kompany said. “We immediately started the second half better.”

Kane made it 2-0 with a penalty awarded after Albian Hajdari was penalized for hand ball, then completed his hat trick from the spot again after substitute Michael Olise was fouled in the area.

Vladimir Coufal scored Hoffenheim’s consolation late with a free kick that took a deflection from substitute Joshua Kimmich.

Bayern substitute Serge Gnabry completed the scoring from a narrow angle in stoppage time.

The only concern for Bayern was an apparent calf injury that forced South Korea defender Kim Min-jae off in the second half.

“We don't have a diagnosis yet. We simply have to wait,” Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl said.

Bayern was already without injured defenders Josip Stanišić, Raphaël Guerreiro, Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Ito. Star player Jamal Musiala was also out, likely to the end of the year, after breaking his leg at the Club World Cup.

Hamburger SV held on at home to enjoy its first victory in the Bundesliga since 2018 with a 2-1 result over Heidenheim.

Hamburg spent the last seven seasons in the second division. Goals from Luka Vušković and Rayan Philippe propelled the team to its first league win since promotion.

Second division champion Cologne lost for the first time since April by 3-1 at Leipzig.

Freiburg defeated Werder Bremen 3-0 away. Victor Boniface again started on the bench for Bremen.

Mainz romped to a 4-1 win at Augsburg despite Dominik Kohr’s sending off in the 53rd when the team was 2-0 up.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Freiburg's Vincenzo Grifo celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and SC Freiburg at the Weser Stadium, Bremen, Germany, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Carmen Jaspersen/dpa via AP)

Hamburger SV's Rayan Philippe, third right, celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hamburger SV and Heidenheim at Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Harry Kane, right, celebrates with Sacha Boey scoring their side's second goal of the game from a penalty during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Harry Kane, right, celebrates with Luis Díaz scoring their side's second goal of the game from a penalty during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Harry Kane scores their side's third goal of the game from a penalty during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday Sept. 20, 2025. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez is set Thursday to deliver her first state of the union speech, addressing an anxious country as she navigates competing pressures from the United States – which toppled her predecessor less than two weeks ago – and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.

The speech comes one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster by the United States earlier this month.

In her address to the National Assembly, which is controlled by the country's ruling party, Rodríguez is expected to explain her vision for her government, including potential changes to the state-owned oil industry that U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to reinvigorate since Maduro’s seizure.

On Thursday, Trump was set to meet at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.

After acknowledging a Tuesday call with Trump, Rodríguez said on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.

The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.

American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.

For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.

Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”

Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)