Frankfurt demolish 10-man Bayern

BERLIN: Eintracht Frankfurt crushed 10-man Bayern Munich 5-1 on Saturday to send them tumbling to fourth in the Bundesliga, four points behind leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach who won 2-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bavarians, who have clinched the last seven league titles, have now won just one of their last four Bundesliga matches.

Saturday’s heavy defeat on Thomas Mueller’s 500th game in all competitions for Bayern leaves the future of embattled coach Niko Kovac in doubt.

“I cannot say. You have to ask other people,” Kovac said when asked whether he still enjoyed the backing of the Bayern bosses.

“I cannot blame the team. With the red card all our plans went out the window. We were then 20 behind and had phases where we dominated possession. But after we went down 3-1, we deserved to lose.”

“You could see again today that we make simple mistakes that are instantly punished,” said Kovac, a former Frankfurt coach, who had infuriated Bayern fans this week by praising his former club’s fans as the best in the league.

Gladbach, on 22 points, increased their lead at the top to three over Dortmund, who beat Vfl Wolfsburg 3-0 to snap their unbeaten run in the league and move into second place.

RB Leipzig demolished Mainz 05 8-0 to go third on 18, ahead of Bayern on goal difference.

The first ever Bundesliga derby between promoted Union and Hertha Berlin never lived up to the hype but offered a dramatic finale with the Bundesliga newcomers snatching victory and bragging rights in the capital with a 90th minute Sebastian Polter penalty.

The last time two Berlin clubs met in the Bundesliga was back in the 1976/77 season when Hertha played Tennis Borussia Berlin.