Illness-hit Bayern roar back to floor Ingolstadt
BERLIN: Illness-hit Bayern Munich conceded their first goal of the season before roaring back with a 3-1 win at home to Ingolstadt on Saturday to stay top of the Bundesliga.
Having scored 20 goals without reply in winning their first five competitive games, including Tuesday’s 5-0 Champions League drubbing of Rostov, Bayern leaked their first of the season with just eight minutes gone at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
But goals by Robert Lewandowski, Xabi Alonso and Rafinha restored order in the absence of captain Philipp Lahm, defender David Alaba and forward Thomas Mueller to a virus, plus Mats Hummels, who was out with a cold.
“After the drop-outs I had to reorganise the back four,” said Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, who praised goalkeeper Manuel Neuer’s outstanding display.
“Sometimes our defense also has to show that we have the best goalkeeper in the world have. He was really good.”
Ingolstadt took advantage of Bayern’s lack of key figures early on.
Australia international Mathew Leckie broke down the left wing and set up Paraguay striker Dario Lezcano, who stroked his shot past Manuel Neuer to silence the 75,000-strong crowd.
The lead lasted just five minutes as Poland’s Lewandowski curled his shot past the reach of Ingolstadt’s goalkeeper Orjan Nyland for his 11th goal of the season for club and country.
Ingolstadt finished the half stronger, but Bayern were not to be denied a sixth straight win this season.
Alonso belted home his shot into the bottom left-hand corner on 50 minutes, while at the other end, a second top save from Neuer denied Leckie before Rafinha claimed Bayern’s late third.
Later Borussia Moenchengladbach scored three goals in the opening 21 minutes of their 4-1 thrashing of ten-man Werder Bremen.
Forwards Thorgan Hazard and Brazilian Raffael both scored twice before Bremen pulled a goal back from winger Serge Gnabry, signed last month from Arsenal, only to have forward Aron Johannsson sent off on 80 minutes for insulting the referee.
Bremen are now bottom of the league after losing all three matches and coach Viktor Skripnik is a prime candidate to become the first sacking in Germany’s top flight this season.
Having hammered six goals past Legia Warsaw in the Champions League on Wednesday, Dortmund rested stars Mario Goetze and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang -- but still thrashed 10-man Darmstadt 6-0.
Winger Ousmane Dembele’s cross was driven home by Gonzalo Castro with just seven minutes played.
The hosts doubled their lead when a long-range shot by new signing Raphael Guerreiro was blocked, but Colombia striker Adrian Ramos tapped home the rebound on 48 minutes.
With their attack in full flow, Dortmund’s third goal followed minutes later when USA international midfielder Christian Pulisic, who turns 18 on Sunday, tapped home.
Darmstadt’s Peter Niemeyer was dismissed for a second yellow card with 30 minutes left as the floodgates opened.
Castro claimed his second, then Sebastian Rode and fellow newsigning Emre Mor netted.
With his wrist still in a cast after slipping on stairs at home, Javier Hernandez equalised, but then hit the post with a penalty, in Bayer Leverkusen’s shock 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Mexico international Marco Fabian scored Eintracht’s winner after Alex Meier had put the hosts ahead.
Wolfsburg wasted a golden chance to win at Hoffenheim when Julian Draxler’s firsthalf shot hit the crossbar after his Germany team-mate Mario Gomez put him in a great position. The match finished goalless.
Newly promoted RB Leipzig remain unbeaten as they earned a 4-0 win at Hamburg -- Emil Forsberg converted a second-half penalty before Timo Werner netted twice and Davie Selke added a late fourth.
Cologne had briefly gone top of the table on Friday with a 3-0 win at home to Freiburg, while Hertha Berlin hope to match Bayern’s record of three wins from three when they host Schalke on Sunday. - AFP