Bayern thump Schalke to close gap on Leipzig; Hoffenheim win

Robert Lewandowski hit his 21st league goal of the season as Bayern Munich thrashed Schalke 5-0 to cut RB Leipzig’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to one point on Saturday.

After Leipzig had crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern seized the chance to trim the advantage with an emphatic win over David Wagner’s young Schalke side.

“The Leipzig match beforehand didn’t interest me, the main thing is we took three points and had a stability in our game which is very important,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick.

Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller scored first-half goals, then both had efforts disallowed for offside by VAR.

However, Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara and Serge Gnabry netted second-half strikes as Bayern dominated at the Allianz Arena.

With less than six minutes played, Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert failed to deal with a cross and Lewandowski was on hand to hook the ball into the net.

The Polish star moved one clear of Leipzig’s Timo Werner at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts.

Schalke’s Welsh forward Rabbi Matondo hit the crossbar soon after, but it was all Bayern after that.

Mueller tapped the ball past Schubert in the six-yard box on 17 minutes, but VAR intervened.

The stadium announcer was already celebrating when replays showed Benjamin Pavard was offside in the build-up as Lewandowski had an effort chalked off.

Bayern and Mueller were not to be denied and the former Germany forward howled with delight when he fired home Goretzka’s header two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

It was Mueller’s 100th goal at the Allianz Arena.

The hosts came out flying after the break as Goretzka volleyed home against his former club on 50 minutes.

Armenian international Sargis Adamyan, Davy Klaassen and Christoph Baumgartner scored one each as Hoffenheim beat Werder Bremen 3-0.

Agencies