BERLIN: Leaders Bayern Munich set a new Bundesliga record for the best start to a season with their eighth successive win yesterday, crushing promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf 5-0 away.
A Mario Mandzukic goal, Luiz Gustavo’s close-range effort and two second-half goals from Thomas Mueller and one from Rafinha completed a fruitful day for Bayern as champions Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by rivals Schalke 04.
Promoted Eintracht Frankfurt kept up their spectacular opening to the campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Hanover 96 to stay five points behind Bayern in second place.
Schalke are third on 17 points with fellow Champions League competitors Dortmund, quickly dropping out of contention, in fourth on 12.
Bayer Leverkusen rescued a 2-2 home draw against Mainz 05 courtesy of an 87th minute Gonzalo Castro goal while VfL Wolfsburg dropped to last place, beaten 2-0 by visitors Freiburg to increase pressure on coach Felix Magath.
Bayern, who also set a record for the best goal difference at this stage of the Bundesliga with 26 goals for and only two conceded, got off to a quick start against the league newcomers who had only lost once beforehand.
The visitors put the ball in the net in the 17th minute with Mueller thundering in a left-footed drive after a dazzling quick passing move but the effort was ruled offside.
The Bavarians were undeterred and got their deserved lead through Croatian Mandzukic’s seventh goal of the season, which put him top of the league scorers’ table.
Mandzukic then set up Luiz Gustavo for Bayern’s second goal, heading toward goal for the Brazilian to tap in from less than a meter out.
The hosts were by that time in disarray and Mueller got his goal, firing in after a nice Franck Ribery pass.
Two more late goals from Mueller — his sixth of the season — and Brazilian Rafinha completed the rout in style as they bred confidence ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game at France’s Lille.
Dortmund showed none of the same offensive appetite and were punished when Dutchman Ibrahim Afellay scored for visitors Schalke in the 14th minute with a well-timed shot.
Marco Hoeger silenced the 80,0000 crowd at the Westfalen stadium three minutes after the restart, chasing down a perfect defense-splitting pass from Lewis Holtby to beat goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Robert Lewandowski cut the deficit in the 55th with a header but the hosts soon ran out of ideas as they suffered their first defeat to local rivals Schalke since February 2010 and saw their title defense take a further hit this season.
Bayern sets new record with eighth straight win
Bayern sets new record with eighth straight win
Pakistan cruise past Sri Lanka in T20I opener
- Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets as Shadab Khan takes two wickets, Sahibzada Farhan smashes 50
- Pakistan cricket team will play all their upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 fixtures in Sri Lanka next month
DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka: Pakistan underlined their credentials as serious contenders for the upcoming T20 World Cup with a commanding six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the opening match of the three-game series in Dambulla on Wednesday.
Touted as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, which Sri Lanka will co-host with India, the series holds added significance for Pakistan, who will play all their tournament matches on the island owing to political tensions with their nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan ticked most boxes on the night, first bottling Sri Lanka up for a modest 128 and then knocking off the target with 20 deliveries to spare, barely breaking sweat.
The game tilted decisively in Pakistan’s favor early, with Shadab Khan ripping the heart out of the Sri Lankan innings by striking twice in his very first over.
The leg-spinner, returning after shoulder surgery and playing his first match for Pakistan since June last year, marked his comeback with a telling spell.
“When you are coming back from injury it is tough. You have to start from zero but the surface was helping me. We have our eyes on the World Cup. With all our games being played here in Sri Lanka, this is a very good series for us,” player-of-the-match Shadab said.
Abrar Ahmed complemented Shadab neatly, finishing with 3-25, while left-arm quick Salman Mirza bowled with fire, mopping up the tail with figures of 3-18 as Sri Lanka were bowled out with four balls unused.
During the run chase, openers Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan flew out of the blocks, racing to 50 in just 25 balls.
Nuwan Thushara bore the brunt of the assault, conceding 31 runs in his first two overs as Pakistan seized early control.
Farhan anchored the chase with a fluent 51 off 36 balls, peppered with four fours and two sixes — his eighth T20I half-century — as Pakistan cruised home without alarm.
For Sri Lanka, the defeat compounds a turbulent lead-up to the series that saw captain Charith Asalanka axed, chairman of selectors Upul Tharanga shown the door and the coaching staff reshuffled.
With little time to catch their breath, the hosts face a swift rethink ahead of the second match on Friday at the same venue.
“We didn’t get a good start and lost too many wickets. That is an issue we need to address. We recovered well and should have got over 150, but we lost quick wickets,” Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said.
