Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both struck twice as Bayern Munich crushed Cologne 5-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to earn their first win in three league games and go five points clear at the top.
The champions, who next week face Borussia Dortmund, are on 52 points, with RB Leipzig, second on 47, taking on Borussia Moenchengladbach later on Saturday. VfL Wolfsburg remained in third place with a 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin.
Apart from Lewandowski and Gnabry, Bayern were also indebted to Leon Goretzka who delivered another silky performance with three assists.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting opened the champions’ account with his first league goal this season, heading in Goretzka’s cross at the far post in the 18th minute.
Lewandowski struck 15 minutes later, combining with Goretzka after a bad pass back from Cologne and the striker then made it 28 league goals from an assist by Thomas Müller, seconds after the midfielder came on in the 65th minute following a coronavirus infection.
Müller is the league’s top provider with 11 assists while Lewandowski is looking to break Gerd Müller’s record of 40 league goals in one season dating back to the 1971-72 campaign.
Substitute Gnabry completed the rout with two late goals in four minutes. “For our way forward we have to stop having these shaky periods during the match,” Gnabry said. “We have to reduce them and then we will be stronger.”
Such phases during their recent games have proved costly for Bayern, including a 3-3 against strugglers Arminia Bielefeld two weeks ago and their 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt last week.
Cologne had briefly cut the deficit four minutes after the restart with Ellyes Skhiri making the most of blunders by three Bayern defenders.
In Spain, Barcelona forwards Ousmane Dembélé and Lionel Messi fired the Catalans to a confidence-boosting 2-0 win at in-form Sevilla to keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Atlético Madrid.
Dembélé latched on to a through ball from Messi and knocked it through the legs of Sevilla goalkeeper Bono to give Barça a deserved lead in the 29th minute after they had dominated the first half, barely giving their hosts a hint of a chance.
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Sevilla improved after the break but Barcelona continued to have the edge and found a second goal when Messi played a one-two with 18-year-old midfielder Ilaix Moriba and netted with a scrappy finish, after having his first effort saved by Bono.
The result ended a six-game winning streak in the league for Sevilla, who remained fourth in the standings on 48 points, while Barça climbed to second with 53 points, two behind frontrunners Atlético but having played two more games
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