Berlin: Arjen Robben scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich continued their relentless run while Borussia Dortmund moved into second place courtesy Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 loss to FSV Mainz in the 23rd round of the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich march on as they humiliated FC Schalke 5-1 on Saturday to inflict the sixth loss of the season on their opponents.
The Bavarians gave a faultless performance in the first half, as Schalke hardly tested the Bayern defence. The hosts ensured a bright start as David Alaba opened the scoring with a deflected free kick in the third minute.
Bayern doubled their lead in the 15th minute through Robben, who made use of a through ball by Mario Mandzukic to beat custodian Ralf Faehrmann with a lob.
Schalke’s porous defence allowed Bayern to score another goal as Mario Mandzukic had all the time and space to head home Alaba’s cross inside the box in the 24th minute.
Schalke were absolutely hapless against Bayern’s dominance as the front runners made it 4-0 thanks to the brace by Robben, who finished his solo run into the far post corner four minutes later.
Bayern’s Rafinha reduced the arrears for the visitors when he cleared a corner into his own goal in the 64th minute.
Things changed from bad to worse when Kyriakos Papadopoulos was sent off with a straight red card following a professional foul to concede a penalty, which was converted by Robben for his hat-trick.
Bayern tighten their top spot with 65 points whereas Schalke stuck to fourth place with 41 points.
Dortmund celebrated their eighth win on home soil as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nuremberg. Thus the ‘BVB’ displaced Leverkusen from second place in the table.
The hosts broke the deadlock as Mats Hummels capitalised on a rebound to poke home from close range in the 51st minute. Nuremberg tried to respond but Dortmund doubled the lead in the 64th minute when Robert Lewandowski utilised a through ball to beat Schaefer with a well-placed curl.
Dortmund rounded off their 3-0 win as Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored in the 83rd minute.
Werder Bremen also won 1-0 at home against Hamburger SV, while Eintracht Braunschweig and Borrusia Monchengladbach drew 1-1. That was also the same result between Augsburg and Hannover 96.
Meanwhile, in Sunday’s matches, 1899 Hoffenheim smashed VfL Wolfsburg 6-2, while Eintracht Frankfurt were 2-1 victors over VfB Stuttgart. (IANS)
