Uli Hoeneß predicted an explosion from Bayern this weekend, and the Andries Jonker era at the club duly opened with a mighty bang, Mario Gomez blasting a first-half hat-trick to set Munich on their way to a crushing victory over dismal Bayer Leverkusen.
The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw Bastian Schweinsteiger hand his side a dream start with a seventh-minute header which cannoned off Bayer skipper Simon Rolfes on its way into the net. Gomez exploited some calamitous defending to double the lead on the half-hour, and smacked two more goals past the abject visitors before half-time.
Eren Derdiyok pulled one back on the hour as FCB’s concentration briefly faltered, but Franck Ribery restored the four-goal advantage 15 minutes from time, and it could even have been more as the men in red wrapped up a supremely comfortable and heartening win.
Bayern’s tenth victory in their last 13 Bundesliga meetings with Bayer, combined with Hannover’s goalless draw away to Hamburg on Saturday, means the champions are back up to third in the Bundesliga on 55 points from 29 matches, one ahead of Hannover and six behind second-placed Leverkusen. The Bavarians continue their league quest away to struggling Eintracht Frankfurt next Saturday afternoon.
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