Berlin: Bayern Munich stayed on top of the Bundesliga table after crushing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 in the 27th round of the league.
The Bavarians staged a powerful performance and established a three-goal lead before the Eagles scored twice against the run of the game through Martin Hinteregger. Hansi Flick’s men remained unimpressed and added another two goals to seal the victory, Xinhua news agency reports.
The German record champions took the rein from the kick-off and kept Frankfurt’s defense busy as Robert Lewandowski, Ivan Perisic and Benjamin Pavard came close in the opening period.
Bayern eventually broke the deadlock with 17 minutes into the game when Thomas Muller’s pinpoint cross allowed Leon Gortezka to mark the opener into the roof of the net.
Germany international Muller got his name on the scoreboard before the break after tapping home Alphonso Davie’s square pass from very close range in the 41st minute.
After the restart, the German giants put the result beyond doubt as Kingsley Coman’s chip found Lewandowski, who nodded home the 3-0 lead with only 45 seconds into the second half.
However, Frankfurt shrugged off the shock and reduced the arrears out of the blue as Hinteregger poked home a rebound following a corner to make it 3-1 in the 52nd minute.
The Austrian international wasn’t done with the scoring and wrapped up his brace after heading home Sebastian Rode’s corner kick only three minutes later.
Frankfurt gained the upper hand but Bayern capitalized on a misplaced pass from Gelson Fernandes on which Davies overcame goalkeeper Kevin Trapp in the 61st minute.
The hosts remained on the front foot and killed the game in the 74th minute when Serge Gnabry’s solo run and effort forced Hinteregger to make a clearance into the wrong goal.
“It is a deserved win for Bayern. The fourth goal is annoying of course because it is more or less an own goal. After the break we responded well but overall it is upsetting, that we had to swallow five goals,” Frankfurt’s head coach Adi Hutter said.
“We played a dominant first half and that is how we want to play. We want to dominate the opponents. After the third goal we retracted and didn’t look good and therefore I have to talk about the second half with my team,” Bayern’s head coach Flick said.
Dortmund beat Wolfsburg
Runners-up Borussia Dortmund have kept pressure on front runners Bayern for the moment after goals from Raphael Guerreiro and Achraf Hakimi helped them edge Wolfsburg 2-0.
From the kick-off, both sides focussed on a well-positioned defense hence goalscoring opportunities were at premium in the opening stages.
Dortmund approached the goal for the first time in the 16th minute when Thorgan Hazard’s curl on target marked the first chance of the game.
Wolfsburg also came close as Wout Weghorst headed over the target from promising position in the 25th minute.
The “BVB” suddenly sparked to life and opened scoring at the half hour mark after a combination via Hazard found Guerreiro, who made no mistake to tap home from very close range at the far post.
The “Wolves” came out highly motivated after the half time and they should have restored parity but Renato Steffen rattled only the woodwork instead of beating onrushing Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki following a one-on-one in the 48th minute.
Wolfsburg remained on the front foot whereas Dortmund retracted with the narrow lead behind but for all that Steffen was unable to beat Burki with a long-range effort at the hour mark.
Dortmund eventually punished Wolfsburg’s poor chance conversion and put the result beyond doubt in the 78th minute when Jadon Sancho initiated a fast break before setting up for Hakimi, who drilled the ball from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner.
To make things worse for the hosts, they had to complete the match with ten men as substitute Felix Klaus was sent off with a straight red card, after consultation with the video assistant referee, due to a rude foul play to Manuel Akanji in the closing period.
With the win, second placed Dortmund reduced the gap to front runners Bayern Munich to one point temporarily meanwhile Wolfsburg suffered the eighth defeat of the season to stay on the sixth position.
IANS