Bayern extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to five points and geared up in perfect style for the midweek Champions League trip to Napoli with an effortless victory over promoted Hertha Berlin on Saturday, in which Manuel Neuer kept an astonishing 12th clean sheet on the bounce. FCB warmed the hearts of the home faithful on a glorious but extremely chilly fall afternoon with moments of explosive football against the stunned visitors, who only escaped a more severe beating when Munich themselves chose to ease off the gas.
The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw the fast-starting league leaders steamroller their dazed opponents in the first half, as Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger blasted the reds into a 3-0 lead with just 13 minutes played. Munich missed chances and showed a degree of mercy for a long spell, before Gomez added the fourth from the spot 20 minutes from time and the home side cruised to the finish.
The result takes leaders FCB onto 22 points from nine games, five clear of second-placed Mönchengladbach and six ahead of Dortmund, Stuttgart and Bremen. The Bavarians’ punishing autumn schedule continues in just three days with the third matchday in Champions League Group A, when Jupp Heynckes and his men travel to face top Serie A outfit Napoli.
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