Bayern beat Dortmund, Leipzig emerge victorious in Bundesliga

DORTMUND: FC Bayern Munich extended their lead atop the standings after cruising 3-1 past Borussia Dortmund while RB Leipzig came from behind to beat newly promoted Hannover 96 2-1 in their respective German football league matches.

The German record champions extended Dortmund’s winless run to four games as goals from Arjen Robben, Robert Lewandowski and David Alaba wrapped up their fourth straight win in the Bundesliga on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

The clash between the top two teams started evenly balanced. Things changed with 17 minutes though as James Rodriguez’ build up work allowed Arjen Robben to mark the opener, and to become Bayern’s all-time leading foreign scorer, from inside the box.

Both goalkeepers remained busy in the first half-hour as Sven Ulreich had to deny Andrey Yarmolenko before Roman Buerki was on guard to thwart Robert Lewandowski’s effort.

Dortmund came close to restoring parity when Christian Pulisic rattled the outside of the right post. However, it was the visitors who cut it better in front of the goal as Joshua Kimmich’s low cross found Lewandowski, whose back heel effort doubled the lead in the 37th minute. The Poland international had the chance to make the game safe after the restart but Roman Buerki’s save kept Dortmund alive.

Dortmund missed a chance to reduce the arrears as Yarmolenko squandered Pulisic’s brilliant build up with 49 minutes played. Bayern put the result beyond doubt with 69 minutes when David Alaba’s untouched cross into the box found the back of the net and tripled the lead. Nevertheless, Dortmund kept up the effort and were rewarded with their consolation through Marc Bartra in the dying minutes of the game.

With this win, Bayern Munich established a fourpoint gap atop the standings while Dortmund slipped from the second to the third place in the Bundesliga table.

Substitute Emil Forsberg provided two second-half assists ensuring Leipzig’s 2-1 comeback win over Hannover on the goals from Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner. MANCHESTER: Kevin De Bruyne , Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus were on target as Manchester City underpinned their status as Premier League title favourites with a dominant 3-1 beating of an outclassed Arsenal.

Belgium international De Bruyne continued a sublime season by beating Petr Cech with a well-placed shot during a first half completely controlled by the home side at the Etihad Stadium.

Aguero, who became City’s all-time club-record goalscorer in the 4-2 Champions League beating of Napoli, then completed a memorable week with City’s second from the penalty spot early in the second half.

Substitute Alexandre Lacazette briefly restored hope for Arsenal, but Jesus – who also came off the bench – ended hope of what would have been an unfair comeback.

It was a more-thandeserved three points for City, whose mesmeric play, lightning speed and swift movement left Arsenal with no reply, and in truth the scoreline could have been worse had Aguero not missed an early chance and Sterling showed more composure in a two-on-one.

City, who had beaten Arsenal just once in nine competitive matches prior to this fixture, have now stretched their unbeaten run to 23 matches and lead the Premier League by eight points from Manchester United, albeit that gap will be cut back down if the Red Devils beat champions Chelsea.

From Arsenal’s perspective, the season may only be in November but a 12-point deficit to City appears insurmountable on this evidence for Arsene Wenger’s men.

Aguero nearly stretched his new club record in just the second minute when he fired wide of the right post at the end of a frightening counter-attack started by a mislaid pass from Alexis Sanchez, who but for some failed last-minute deadline-day deals may have been lining up for City in this fixture.

The visiting goal was living a charmed life as another lightning break saw Aguero slip in Leroy Sane, whose ball across the face of goal needed just a touch from Sterling.

It was with a certain sense of inevitability that City opened the scoring in the 19th minute.

Cech had just saved a De Bruyne snapshot, but possession was quickly regained and the Belgian played a neat onetwo with Fernandinho before stroking a left-foot shot into the bottom-right corner for City’s 50th goal in all competitions this season.

Arsenal remained camped in their own half, and had someone gambled on David Silva’s pass across the face of goal or Sterling shown more composure to pick out Sane when two on one then City’s lead would have been doubled.

Chances for the visitors were at a premium, but Aaron Ramsey did test Ederson with a low drive on the stroke of half-time.

But it was normal service resumed early after the restart. Nacho Monreal was caught goalside of Sterling and brought the winger to ground in area, with Aguero converting the resulting spot-kick off the right-hand post.

Ederson nearly gifted Arsenal a route back into the match when he made a hash of a simple clip into the area from Alex Iwobi, but the Gunners did half the arrears in the 65th minute.

Arsenal capitalised on a dip in tempo from City and Ramsey slid in Lacazette on the right of the area where the France striker finished through the legs of Ederson.

The two-goal cushion was almost immediately re-established when Sane’s corner was flicked on by Silva and met by Gabriel Jesus, who was denied by Cech’s stunning point-blank stop.

But the game was put to bed in almost comical fashion. The Arsenal defence stopped in their tracks believing Silva to be offside from a Fernandinho throughball, and the Spaniard had all the time in the world to pick out substitute Jesus to sweep home. BERLIN: German football giants Bayern Munich are celebrating their striker Arjen Robben. Despite his turning 34 in January 2018, the Dutchman is still passionate about winning titles.

Having scored the 1-0 lead against Borussia Dortmund (3-1) makes Robben the most successful foreign player in the history of the 2013 Champions League winners. Robben scored his 93rd league goal, going past Brazilian striker Giovane Elber with 92.

The winger is currently the most successful player in the German Bundesliga when it comes to achieving big chances.

The former Dutch international could soon be rewarded with a new contract.

Thirty four is an age in professional sports which does not leave much space for great dreams in the future.

“You get aware of the time running out. I know time will come for Franck and me, sooner or later,” Robben told the German media while talking about his and teammate Franck Ribery’s future.

He might as well play his last season, Robben commented while his father and manager Hans reported about plans to begin talks with Bayern as early as next spring to negotiate a new contract.

The 2010 World Cup runner-up is convinced that age does not count when it comes to success in football.

“You are either still in good shape, or you are not,” Robben commented.

His current coach Jupp Heynckes might count as a shining example as the 1974 world champion will turn 73 next May. Robben has made no secret wanting of to end his career with another title.