4th October, 2014
Bayern Munich went four points clear in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 romp against Hanover 96 on Saturday while Schalke, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen suffered Champions League hangovers.
Bayern were rarely troubled at home as striker Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben both netted twice even with Thomas Mueller and World Cup winner Mario Goetze on the bench, plus Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger injured.
“We’re happy with the result,” said Bayern boss Pep Guardiola, whose side have won both of their opening Champions League matches.
“Hanover were third or fourth in the table and played with five at the back, which wasn’t easy. We scored four, but it could have been more.
“The most important thing is that every game we’re playing a little better than before. We’re playing more and running less, so I’m happy with that.”
Munich were 2-0 up after just 13 minutes as Lewandowski chested down a long ball and drilled his shot into the bottom corner, then Robben added a second after a trademark run through the heart of the Hanover defence.
Lewandowski netted again just seven minutes before the break after coolly controlling a Juan Bernat pass and scoring into the left corner.
Bayern kept up the pressure in the second-half to kick-off celebrations on the last weekend of Munich’s Oktoberfest as Robben fired home his second with 11 minutes left.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern have now gone seven games without conceding a goal.
In contrast, Dortmund are now winless in their last four league games after their 1-0 defeat at home to Hamburg left them 13th in the table.
Dortmund were a shadow of themselves after their impressive 3-0 Champions League win at Anderlecht in midweek as Hamburg picked up their first victory of the season.
“For all our ambitions and goals, this is currently not nearly enough,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.
“I take full responsibility for the preparations and the tactics.
“We’re left with seven points and we’re not even looking at the top of the table.”
This was Hamburg’s fourth victory over Dortmund in their last five meetings to leave Klopp’s side two points above the relegation zone.
Hamburg netted the first-half winner after sloppy defending.
A poor pass from Dortmund striker Adrian Ramos was snapped up by Hamburg’s Marcell Jansen who fed Nicolai Mueller and the right-wing sprinted away, drawing Borussia’s goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller for Pierre-Michel Lasogga to slot into an empty net on 35 minutes.
Ten-man Schalke also suffered an afternoon to forget after drawing 1-1 with Maribor in the Champions League on Wednesday as they went down 2-1 at Hoffenheim, who moved up to second in the table.
The Royal Blues found themselves behind after only 13 minutes as Norway’s Tarik Elyounoussi put the hosts into the lead.
Hungary striker Adam Szalai then slotted home their second against his former club on 29 minutes.
Schalke finished with 10 men after Cameroon’s Joel Matip was shown a second yellow and subsequent red before Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a late consolation goal.
Bayer Leverkusen dropped to fourth after drawing 2-2 at home to ten-man Paderborn.
Promoted Paderborn took an early lead through midfielder Suleyman Koc before Leverkusen captain Lars Bender equalised for the Champions League side who picked up a midweek win over Benfica.
Paderborn had ten men for the last 20 minutes after Marvin Bakalorz was shown a straight red for tackling Brazilian defender Wendell from behind.
Moritz Stoppelkamp gave Paderborn a late lead before Karim Bellarabi celebrated his first Germany call-up with Leverkusen’s equaliser on 90 minutes.
On Friday, Hertha Berlin enjoyed only their second league win of the season with a 3-2 victory at home to VfB Stuttgart with Ivory Coast’s Salomon Kalou scoring twice.
Borussia Moenchengladbach can reclaim second place on Sunday if they beat Mainz while mid table sides Augsburg and Wolfsburg meet earlier.