Six players, six goals as Bayern hot on Leipzig’s heels after Mainz mauling

Bayern Munich new boy Ivan Perisic bagged his first goal for the Bundesliga champions as they romped to a 6-1 win over a hapless Mainz at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

Bayern showcased their attacking brilliance throughout, with six different players getting on the scoresheet.

Robert Lewandowski scored his sixth of the season in just three games, while Benjamin Pavard, David Alaba, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies also scored.

Mainz took a shock early lead when Jean-Paul Boetius finished a superb sixth-minute counter attack, giving the visitors hope that they might be able to pick up their first point of the season.

However Pavard equalised for the hosts half-an-hour later through an expertly taken volley which recalled his stunning 2018 World Cup strike against Argentina.

Alaba gave Bayern the lead with a brilliantly taken free kick just before the break, and the rout was completed in the second half.

In Freiburg, Cologne’s Ellyes Skhiri scored the winner in second-half injury time to secure the visitors a 2-1 victory. Freiburg hit the lead in the 40th minute through an own goal by Rafael Czichos, before Cologne fan favourite Anthony Modeste equalised in the 52nd minute. Schalke picked up their first win of the season over a disappointing Hertha Berlin at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins Arena.

Berlin scored own goals either side of half time through Niklas Stark and Karim Rekik.

English defender Jonjoe Kenny added a third in the 86th minute to make it 3-0 -- the first goal by a Schalke player this season -- to put the game beyond doubt.

Wolfsburg and Paderborn fought out a firey 1-1 draw at the Volkswagen Arena.

At the BayArena, visitors Hoffenheim ended Bayer Leverkusen’s 100 per cent start to the season as the sides fought out a 0-0 draw.

Earlier, in a Friday match, Timo Werner scored a hat-trick as RB Leipzig won 3-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach to move top of the fledgling Bundesliga table.

The German international striker was at his clinical best as Julian Nagelsmann’s fine start to life as Leipzig coach continued with a third straight win to kick off the league season.

Leipzig, who were drawn in Champions League Group G alongside Zenit Saint-Petersburg, Benfica and Lyon on Thursday, had beaten Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt in their first two games.

They continued their strong form as Werner latched onto Emil Forsberg’s through ball to slip a shot between the legs of Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer and give the visitors a 38th-minute lead at Borussia Park.

Leipzig caught their hosts cold less than two minutes into the second period, as Yussuf Poulsen sent Werner racing in on goal again, and the 23-year-old made no mistake.

He made it five goals in just three league appearances in the final minute of added time after Breel Embolo had briefly given the home fans some hope, slotting calmly into the bottom corner after a poor back-header by Matthias Ginter.

A first defeat of the season leaves Gladbach seventh on four points.

Agence France-Presse


German League results on Saturday:

Bayer Leverkusen 0 Hoffenheim 0; Schalke 3 (Stark 38-og, Rekik 48-og, Kenny 85) Hertha Berlin 0; Wolfsburg 1 (Brekalo 56) Paderborn 1 (Souza 12); Freiburg 1 (Czichos 40-og) Cologne 2 (Modeste 52, Skhiri 90+2); Bayern Munich 6 (Pavard 36, Alaba 45, Perisic 54, Coman 64, Lewandowski 78, Davies 80) Mainz 1 (Boetius 6); on Friday: Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 (Embolo 90) RB Leipzig 3 (Werner 38, 47, 90+4)