Advertisement
Thomas Müller celebrates. Imago/PA Images
die unvermeidlichen

Rampant Bayern close gap to a point as leaders Leipzig suffer first defeat since October

Bayern’s 55 goals in 19 league games is a 34-year Bundesliga high.

ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI SCORED his 21st league goal of the season as Bayern Munich thrashed would-be title challengers Schalke 5-0 to cut RB Leipzig’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to one point on Saturday.

After Leipzig had crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern seized the chance to trim the advantage with an emphatic win over David Wagner’s young Schalke side.

Their 55 league goals in 19 games is a 34-year Bundesliga high.

“The Leipzig match beforehand didn’t interest me, the main thing is we took three points and had a stability in our game which is very important,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

Lewandowski and Thomas Müller scored first-half goals, then both had efforts disallowed for offside by VAR.

However, Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara and Serge Gnabry netted second-half strikes as Bayern dominated at the Allianz Arena.

With less than six minutes played, Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert failed to deal with a cross and Lewandowski was on hand to hook the ball into the net.

The Polish star moved one clear of Leipzig’s Timo Werner at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts.

bavaria-munich-fc-schalke Thomas Müller, David Alaba, Thiago (above) and Leon Goretzka celebrate Goretzka's goal, Bayern's third. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

Schalke’s Welsh forward Rabbi Matondo hit the crossbar soon after, but it was all Bayern after that.

Müller tapped the ball past Schubert in the six-yard box on 17 minutes, but VAR intervened.

The stadium announcer was already celebrating when replays showed Benjamin Pavard was offside in the build-up as Lewandowski had an effort chalked off.

Bayern and Müller were not to be denied and the former Germany forward howled with delight when he fired home Goretzka’s header two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

It was his 100th goal at the Allianz Arena.

The hosts came out flying after the break as Goretzka volleyed home against his former club on 50 minutes.

Lewandowski served up a simple tap-in for Alcantara eight minutes later as Schalke offered precious little resistance before Gnabry came on and marked his comeback from injury with a late fifth goal.

“It wasn’t fun for us and it wasn’t nice, but we’ll learn from that,” said former Huddersfield boss Wagner.

bavaria-munich-fc-schalke Wagner salutes the away support. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

Earlier, RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann was left ruing the leaders’ “sloppy” performance in Frankfurt after their first defeat since October.

Leipzig have tough games coming up as they host third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach next Saturday, then visit Bayern on 9 February.

Second-half goals by Almamy Toure and Filip Kostic sealed victory for Frankfurt as Leipzig lost for the first time in 14 games in all competitions.

“We were clearly the better team in the first half, but we were too sloppy with our goalscoring chances,” admitted Nagelsmann, who said his team had trained poorly in mid-week.

“When you look at our training on Wednesday, you realise that we are still far from being a top team.

“We’re still at the top, but if we want to reach the summit 100%, we’ll have to work hard.”

eintracht-frankfurt-rb-leipzig Leipzig slipped up at Frankfurt. DPA / PA Images DPA / PA Images / PA Images

Elsewhere in the title race, Moenchengladbach came from behind to poach a 3-1 home win over Mainz.

After Sweden forward Robin Quaison gave Mainz an early lead, Gladbach’s French striker Alassane Plea scored two goals either side of half-time before substitute Florian Neuhaus grabbed a late third.

Jurgen Klinsmann’s Hertha Berlin bounced back from their 4-0 thumping at home to Bayern last Sunday, which left them hovering just above the relegation places, with a 2-1 win at Wolfsburg thanks to goals from Dodi Lukebakio and defender Jordan Torunarigha.

Borussia Dortmund are fourth after Friday’s 5-1 thrashing of Cologne as Norwegian teenager Erling Braut Haaland scored twice off the bench to give him a record five goals in his first two games for the club.

© – AFP 2020 

Your Voice
Readers Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

    Leave a commentcancel