MUNICH — Bayern Munich demolished Schalke 04 4-0 with two goals from David Alaba to open a 15-point gap at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday as champions Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen slipped up. Left-back Alaba scored either side of a sensational Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick with Mario Gomez, starting ahead of top scorer Mario Mandzukic, drilling in the fourth as Bayern made it four straight wins this year without conceding a goal.
Reuters
In another impressive display of fluid, attacking football, Bayern outplayed Schalke, launching an avalanche of pressure from the start and missing several other clear chances as they chase their first title after two failed campaigns.
Bayern move on to 54 points with their 17th win in 21 league games while fellow Champions League competitors Schalke, badly missing a string of injured players and having notched only one win in their last 10 games, dropped to ninth.
Second-placed Dortmund suffered a surprise 4-1 drubbing at the hands of visiting Hamburg SV to remain on 39 points.
Latvian Artjoms Rudnevs and South Korea international Son Heung-min each scored twice and both teams finished with 10 men after Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski and Hamburg’s Jeffrey Bruma were shown straight red cards for foul play.
Leverkusen looked to be heading for victory after twice coming from behind to lead 3-2 against Borussia Moenchengladbach, but an 86th minute equaliser from Patrick Hermann secured a point for the hosts, leaving Leverkusen in third on 38.
Werder Bremen beat VfB Stuttgart 4-1 with the home side left licking their wounds after a fifth straight defeat that incrases the pressure on coach Bruno Labbadia, who last month extended his deal to 2015.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
VfL Wolfsburg climbed further away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over bottom side Greuther Fuerth thanks to Bas Dost’s eight goal of the season to move up to 12th on 26 points.
