Brits Abroad: Harry Kane saves Bayern Munich's unbeaten start as Jude Bellingham left frustrated by Real Madrid's bogey team again while Carney Chukwuemeka's impressive volley isn't enough for Borussi

Bayern Munich went into Saturday's match away at Union Berlin having won all 16 games to begin 2025-26. With their capital hosts firmly mid-table in the Bundesliga, Vincent Kompany's side were widely expected to run out victors again.

Yet Union threw a spanner in the works. After an opening goal from Ilyas Ansah was ruled out by VAR for offside, Manuel Neuer spilled a trickling shot from Danilho Doekhi over the line to ensure Bayern indeed fell behind in the first half. Only an incredible solo effort from Luis Diaz meant the visitors were able to go into the break on level terms.

Bayern pushed on to find a second goal, but found themselves scrambling for merely one point when Doekhi scored again on 83 minutes, with Kane's limp header from a free-kick turned in by the centre-back. The enigmatic Stadion An der Alten Forsterei thought it was going to see a famous Union win, until Kane went from zero to Bavarian hero. In the third minute of added time, Tom Bischof sent in a delicious cross, and the England captain pounced ahead of his marker to nod it in at the near post.

"It was a tough game. We expected a battle and a lot of long balls. Many decisions and small fouls went against us today," Kane bemoaned post-match. "It wasn't our best game, but we stayed focused and managed to equalise. That's football, there are games like today where things go against you. We'll take the point.

"Obviously it was my mistake for the second goal. So I was itching to get the chance at the end there and put it away, and thankfully Tom put a great ball in and I snuck it past the 'keeper. I've been playing football long enough to know, this is part of it, mistakes are going to happen. It's just nice to be able to help teams out."

Kane did, however, reserve special praise for fellow scorer Diaz, who has been a revelation at Bayern since joining from Liverpool over the summer. "Incredible to be honest," he said of the strike. "The way he kept the ball in and got past his defender and then score was, just a special goal, a really, really special goal. He's been pulling stuff out like that all season but I reckon that's probably his best."

For some reason, the bourgeoisie of Real Madrid simply cannot buy a win away at working-class club Rayo Vallecano, who are situated on the edge of the Spanish capital. Their stadium, Vallecas, has only three stands and a capacity of under 15,000, yet it has a reputation as one of the toughest places to go in La Liga.

Madrid have now failed to win on any of their last four visits to Rayo, drawing three and losing one in that time. Their latest stalemate came on Sunday, with both sides cancelling each other out as it finished 0-0. Despite boasting all the star talent you could ever hope for, Xabi Alonso's men mustered a mere 0.98 expected goals from 21 shots.

That wasn't for the want of Jude Bellingham's trying, though. He saw two close-range efforts blocked and picked the Rayo lock on several occasions. It's hardly his fault that Madrid dropped points and failed to score for a second-successive game across all competitions, following their 1-0 loss to Liverpool in the Champions League in midweek.

"Always difficult in Vallecas but we take the point and move forward," Bellingham wrote on Instagram. "We have to stick together and prepare for another tough spell of games coming after the break. Hala Madrid."

Sandwiched between last week's matches at club level, Bellingham secured a return to the England squad having been left out of their last two camps. Head coach Thomas Tuchel has promised the Madrid man a "central role" given his unique skillset as an attacking midfielder who has the scoring instincts of a forward.

When you think of Marcus Rashford at full tilt, you think of one of the most ruthless ball-strikers and emphatic finishers in the game. You think of his electric pace and confidence to skip past defenders without hesitance. You don't really envisage him as a forward who would consider passing before shooting.

Maybe the ethos of Barcelona has overcome him. His tally of six assists is the most of any player in La Liga so far this season, and already the third-highest Rashford has recorded in a league campaign since turning professional, only bettered by sums of seven in 2019-20 and nine in 2020-21.

The headlines belonged to Robert Lewandowski after he bagged a hat-trick in Barca's 4-2 triumph at Celta Vigo on Sunday, but Rashford's two assists for the Pole didn't go unnoticed. The Manchester United loanee whipped in a delicious cross for Lewandowski to tap home to put the visitors 2-1 up towards the end of the first half, before delivering a corner that the No.9 headed up and in to round off the scoring late on.

Rashford's all-round performance earned special praise from Catalan outlet Mundo Deportivo, who wrote: "Rashford contributed his excellent passing ability to the team and also greatly improved his pressing, which was key to Barcelona's victory in Vigo."

In less positive news for Rashford, Barca sporting director Deco has hinted the club will not be able to afford to trigger his £30.3 million (€35m/$39.9m) purchase clause until the summer, with a tight budget in place for the rest of the season.

Napoli look far from the beast who romped their way to the Scudetto last season. An inauspicious start to 2025-26 has left Antonio Conte on the brink of another meltdown. The mood and vibes around Naples are through the floor, despite their beloved team sitting only two points off the top of the Serie A table.

Ballon d'Or nominee Scott McTominay also hasn't lived up to the same expectations of him this term either, scoring just once in the league since the opening day while battling with an ankle issue over recent weeks. A trip to Bologna on Sunday was a chance for Napoli and their star midfielder to claim a scalp and head into the international break on a high, but it's one they spectacularly squandered.

Conte's side mustered only four shots - two from McTominay himself - as they fell to a 2-0 defeat, with the hosts inspired by captain Lewis Ferguson, who appears to be over the worst of his injury struggles. Ex-Napoli striker Roberto Sosa has even suggested Conte has lost the dressing room and that showed in their performance, commenting: "It's the typical match you see when the players want to get rid of the coach. The players weren't even angry despite being two goals down, and I've said this before about other teams. Today, I have to say it about Napoli."

Meanwhile, The Sun have reported that McTominay has told Conte to make a fresh play for former United team-mate Kobbie Mainoo, who was linked with the Italian champions during the summer window after asking to leave Old Trafford. Whether or not Conte will actually be at the club come January remains to be seen.

Back to Germany now, and there was a Bundesliga goal for Borussia Dortmund's Carney Chukwuemeka to celebrate at last this season. So much attention has been placed on Jobe Bellingham and his family's battle with BVB that it's gone under the radar the club also have another talented English midfielder on their books.

Hamburg were the hosts for Saturday's encounter, and Dortmund broke the deadlock heading into the final half-hour of action. After HSV failed to clear a corner, the second delivery was flicked back up by Nico Schlotterbeck and into Chukwuemeka's path. With a wicked swing of his right foot, the former Chelsea starlet got great contact on the ball as it bobbled frantically across the ground and into the back of the net.

"Schlotti controlled the ball well with his head and I saw the chance to shoot. Thank God the ball went in. I was very happy," Chukwuemeka said to Dortmund's club channels after the game.

Dortmund thought they had done enough to take the three points back to Signal Iduna Park, but in the last of seven added minutes, Ransford Konigsdorffer popped up with a header to snatch a draw for Hamburg and deny BVB a third 1-0 win on the spin.

Speaking on that late equaliser, Chukwuemeka added: "Super frustrating! I think it's down to us. We stopped playing after the first goal. That wasn't good enough."

After Paris Saint-Germain's ruthless conquering of Europe in 2024-25, few would have expected there to be a competitive title race in Ligue 1 this season. You can't knock the likes of Marseille and Lens, who sit only two points behind the reigning champions, for giving it a good go.

Live-wire manager Roberto De Zerbi has managed to keep OM's emotions in check through 12 rounds of league fixtures, capping off this part of the campaign with a 3-0 victory at home to Brest. Marseille more than deserved the win with a dominant performance at the Stade Velodrome, though there was more than a tint of fortune around their opening goal.

England international Angel Gomes' free-kick from 20 yards seemed simple enough for goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki, but he instead completely misjudged the shot and let it wriggle out of his grip and across the line. This was followed by a penalty from Mason Greenwood, who is up to second in the Ligue 1 top-scorer race with eight goals this season, half of those coming from spot kicks.

De Zerbi spoke in his post-match preference of Gomes' complete performance in the middle of the park alongside Belgium star Arthur Vermeeren. "Vermeeren played a true midfielder's game, he's becoming more complete in duels which is essential for him, the same goes for Angel Gomes," he said. "He gave everything we expect from him. I'm very happy."

Marseille nearly went into the November international break top of Ligue 1, but Lyon couldn't do them the favour they needed against PSG. Les Gones came ever so close to holding on for a draw, which they would have been good value for too after limiting the European champions to nine shots, only for it to be cruelly taken from them in stoppage time.

Luis Enrique's side went one up through Warren Zaire-Emery, though this first-half strike was almost instantly cancelled out by a leveller from Afonso Moreira. A third goal in seven minutes, this time from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, put PSG back in the driving seat.

Then the Englishmen got in on the act. On the other side of half-time, ex-Liverpool youngster Tyler Morton saw Arsenal academy graduate Ainsley Maitland-Niles making a weaving run right between a sleeping PSG backline and duly plopped a pass over the top for him to run onto. With Lucas Chevalier racing off his line, Maitland-Niles thought quickly and dinked the ball over the goalkeeper to bring Lyon level again.

OL defender Nicolas Tagliafico was controversially shown a second yellow card in added time for shoving Vitinha's face, and PSG made that one-man advantage count before the final whistle, with Lee Kang-in's corner headed in by Joao Neves to break Lyon hearts.

We'll finish with a story you probably haven't heard of, and a player you may not know unless you've paid close attention to League One and League Two over the last few years.

Turkish side Kocaelispor secured promotion to the Super Lig last season, ending a 16-year wait to return to the top-flight. They even dropped into the amateur leagues in 2014 and were in the third tier as recently as 2022, but are now back in the big time after finishing top of the 1. Lig.

One of their premier signings this summer was wide forward Dan Agyei, who turned down a fresh contract at Leyton Orient to take up a new adventure in Turkey. London-born Agyei has largely been offered only sparing minutes with Kocaelispor, but after a run of games in the starting XI, he's finally scored a goal, and what a time it was to get it.

Kocaelispor welcomed leaders and Champions League dark horses Galatasaray to the Kocaeli Stadium on Sunday, hoping to cause a giant-killing that would propel them away from the relegation zone and into mid-table. Agyei, someone who had only made three appearances at a level higher than the English third tier until this season, took down a team featuring Victor Osimhen, Leroy Sane, Mauro Icardi, Davinson Sanchez and more.

The winger cut inside from the right, skipped past the challenges of Abdulkerim Bardakci and former Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira, and rifled in a shot at the near post to bring a 35,000-strong crowd to its feet with what proved to be game's only goal. Listen to that noise!:

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