BERLIN: Flawless Bayern Munich struck twice in three minutes to beat Schalke 04 2-0 yesterday and stay top of the Bundesliga with four wins from four as rivals Borussia Dortmund lost 3-2 at Hamburg SV to end a 31-match unbeaten run.
Visitors Bayern, fresh from their opening 2-1 Champions League win over Valencia on Wednesday, took the lead in the 55th minute when in-form Toni Kroos — set up by Thomas Mueller — curled a low shot from 14 meters past keeper Lars Unnerstall.
Mueller then scored the second goal himself, threading the ball through the legs of defender Christian Fuchs on the right and slipping a shot between two others for his fourth goal of the season to silence the 61,000 crowd at the Auf Schalke Arena.
Bayern, who were without injured Franck Ribery, have now won all games in every competition so far this season and are on 12 points along with promoted Eintracht Frankfurt who beat Nuremberg 2-1 on Friday.
“We saw a very intense match from both teams and Schalke stood up very well especially in the first half,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.
“We showed our class in the second half, dominated and deserved to win.
“It is good news that we have opened up a five-point lead (over Dortmund) but the championship is a long marathon of 34 games,” he said.
Schalke, who showed none of the attacking flair that earned them a 2-1 win at Olympiakos in their midweek Champions League group match, imploded following the quickfire goals and failed to threaten the Bayern goal.
Champions Dortmund are five points behind, after Hamburg battled to victory with two goals from South Korea’s Son Heung-min.
The hosts needed just two minutes to score when Rafael van der Vaart was given far too much space on the left to cross and Son beat Mats Hummels to head in his second goal of the season.
Dortmund instantly took control, launching a barrage of attacks until halftime but neither Marco Reus nor Robert Lewandowski could beat keeper Rene Adler.
GOAL RUSH Ivan Perisic did it better, lobbing in the equalizer from the left 21 seconds after the restart. In a frantic five minute spell, however, the hosts struck twice through Ivo Ilicevic and Son before Croat Perisic cut the deficit on the hour.
Dortmund are on seven points along with fellow Champions League competitors Schalke while Hamburg, who hold the record for the longest unbeaten run of 36 league games from 1983, managed to lift themselves off the bottom after three straight defeats.
“The game was a real show,” said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp. “We had problems pushing through our game at the beginning and Hamburg were clever, taking their few chances well.” VfL Wolfsburg’s Emanuel Pogatetz scored a curious own goal in their 1-1 draw at home to Greuther Fuerth when he failed to clear a deep kick from Greuther keeper Max Gruen and connected with the ball to send it past his charging keeper Diego Benaglio.
Ivica Olic levelled three minutes before the break after Thomas Kahlenberg’s shot hit the bar and bounced toward the Croat, who had no problem heading it in from five meters out.
Mainz 05 climbed up to 11th place with a 2-0 home win over Augsburg while promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf, still undefeated, shared the points with Freiburg in their goalless draw.
Hanover 96 will move two points behind Bayern and Frankfurt with a win at troubled bottom club Hoffenheim on Sunday while Borussia Moenchengladbach take on Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen welcome VfB Stuttgart.
Bayern sting Schalke to stay top; Dortmund loses
Bayern sting Schalke to stay top; Dortmund loses
Neto treble fires Chelsea’s FA Cup rout of Hull
- It was an emotional evening for Blues boss Rosenior
KINGSTON UPON HULL: Chelsea eased into the FA Cup fifth round as Pedro Neto’s hat-trick inspired a 4-0 win at Hull on Liam Rosenior’s return to the club that sacked him two years ago.
Rosenior’s side took the lead through Neto’s superb first-half strike before the Portugal forward netted again after the break.
Estevao Willian scored Chelsea’s third and Neto completed his treble to wrap up the fourth round rout at the MKM Stadium.
It was an emotional evening for Blues boss Rosenior as he faced the club that ruthlessly severed their long relationship with him in 2024.
Rosenior supported Hull as a child alongside his season-ticket holding grandmother, played for the club across five years and managed them for two seasons.
He was sacked after narrowly failing to reach the Championship play-offs amid criticism of his team’s conservative tactics.
Despite the painful end to his time at Hull, the 41-year-old said it was an “amazing thing” to return to Humberside and he took full advantage of the chance to show his old club what they had missed out on.
“This club means a lot not just to me but also my family for many reasons,” Rosenior said.
“I do hope they make the Premier League this year, but because of our attitude and application, that is what gave us the platform to win tonight.”
Rosenior has made an impressive start at Chelsea since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca in January, winning eight out of his first 11 matches in all competitions.
He made seven changes, with Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro among those to miss out, but Chelsea were still too strong for the Championship promotion chasers.
“Pedro Neto has been outstanding, he works so hard and has so much quality. I’m delighted to see him get the goals,” Rosenior said.
“The most pleasing aspect was the mentality. It was a really strong performance in terms of the mental application you need to be successful. Everyone worked really hard for each other.”
Chelsea dominated possession to such an extent that it was little surprise when they finally made the breakthrough in the 40th minute.
Liam Delap teed up Neto and he whipped a superb finish into the corner from 20 yards.
Andrey Santos’ towering header was pushed over by Dillon Phillips after the interval and, from the resulting corner, Chelsea doubled their lead in the 51st minute.
Neto’s inswinger caught Phillips flat-footed at the near post, bouncing through his legs without a touch from either team.
Chelsea had blown a two-goal advantage in their 2-2 draw with Leeds in the Premier League on Tuesday.
But there was no chance of a repeat and Estevao grabbed their third with a composed finish from 12 yards in the 59th minute.
Neto made it four in the 71st minute, caressing a low finish past Phillips from Delap’s lay-off.
Wrexham beat fellow Championship side Ipswich 1-0 in Friday’s other fourth round tie.
The Welsh club, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, are into the last 16 for the first time since 1996-97.
