Bayern start campaign with rout of Frankfurt
BERLIN, Aug 6, (AP): Sadio Mané scored on his league debut and Bayern Munich routed Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 to start the new Bundesliga.
Jamal Musiala got two goals and Joshua Kimmich, Benjamin Pavard and Serge Gnabry also scored as Bayern showed no ill effect from Robert Lewandowski’s summer transfer to Barcelona.
Bayern’s sheer dominance against the team that won the Europa League last season shows why it remains the firm favorite for a record-extending 11th consecutive title.
The Bavarian powerhouse had 17 shots at goal in the first half alone, when the visitors could also shrug off a comical miss from Thomas Müller.
Both the opening ceremony and a passionate performance of the German anthem by pop singer Carolin Niemczyk were whistled by the home fans, who marked the occasion in their own way by setting off banned pyrotechnics behind one of the goals.
It sent a huge cloud of smoke over the Frankfurt goal and may even have aided the visitors as Kimmich scored through the haze with a free kick in off the right post in the fifth minute. Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was expecting a cross, was late to react.
Pavard made it 2-0 in the 11th on a rebound of Müller’s blocked effort.
Bayern had to wait till the 29th for Mané to get the third with a header to Gnabry’s floated cross. It was the Senegalese forward’s first Bundesliga goal following his transfer from Liverpool.
Müller gave Musiala a tap-in in the 35th and Gnabry got the fifth just before halftime.
Only the break provided relief for the beleaguered home team.
Glasner reacted with three changes in the interval and was rewarded with a far more encouraging performance in the second half.
New signing Kolo Muani forced a mistake from overconfident goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to score on his league debut in the 64th.
United States forward Jordan Pefok scored on his Bundesliga debut to help Union Berlin defeat Hertha Berlin 3-1 in their first league game of the season .
Pefok, who also scored on his debut in the German Cup on Monday, opened the scoring in the 31st to set Union on its way to a third consecutive win over its rival to keep the unofficial title of ”Stadtmeister” (city champion).
Pefok joined from Swiss team Young Boys in the offseason and has already become a fan favorite. He received a standing ovation along with teammate Genki Haraguchi when they were taken off late in the game.
Sheraldo Becker and Robin Knoche also scored to ensure Hertha’s difficult start to the season continued after its German Cup exit to second-division Eintracht Braunschweig last weekend. Hertha only barely clinched survival last season and new coach Sandro Schwarz faces a tall order to restore the team’s confidence.
Tempers frayed outside before kickoff as road closures led to traffic chaos around Union’s Stadion an der Alten Försterei. Most fans were already inside the ground long before kickoff, but the tail backs persevered, upsetting motorists who had nothing to do with the match.