Dominant Bayern ease past Nürnberg

FC Bayern beat FC Nürnberg 3-0 in Saturday's Bavarian derby, advancing to second place in the table overnight. Robert Lewandowski scored a brace in the first half, Franck Ribéry settling the issue after half-time.

Boss Niko Kovac opted for the same starting line-up as against Bremen, again with a twin holding role. The German record champions started with Manuel Neuer in goal and Rafinha, Niklas Süle, Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba in a back four. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring Serge Gnabry, Thomas Müller and Ribéry, with Lewandowski as lone striker. Thiago and Kingsley Coman took over from Goretzka and Ribéry after the hour mark, Wagner coming on for Gnabry with a quarter-hour to go.

Brace for Lewy

The 75,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the Bavarians go straight onto the front foot. Ribéry saw an effort blocked before Lewandowski rewarded Bayern's early pressure, raising high to beat keeper Fabian Bredlow to a Kimmich corner. Bayern camped out in their opponents' half throughout the first 45 minutes, and when Nürnberg won the ball they often gifted it away immediately.

Ribéry's deflected effort hit the crossbar before Lewandowski miscued, but the Poland captain soon doubled the lead. Goretzka's fine curler from 25 yards crashed off the bar, but Lewandowski was on hand to tuck home the rebound. Bayern's impetus ebbed away a little after the half-hour, but they were never in danger, and match official Tobias Stieler blew for half-time after Lewandowski and Boateng miscued their efforts.

Franck twists the knife

Proceedings were similar after the restart, Bayern strangling the visitors with possession and boasting an accuracy of more than 90 percent. Bredlow made a strong save to deny Kimmich before parrying a Gnabry shot, but Ribéry slotted home through his legs.

Süle blocked a Sebastian Kerk effort at the other end, but Bayern had not had enough, Coman firing just wide. A Boateng effort was blocked before Kimmich's fine curler crashed off the post, and Stieler put the visitors out of their misery.

The result means Bayern have 27 points from 14 matches, lying second in the table overnight after Leipzig lost away to Freiburg. Gladbach can overtake Bayern when they take on Stuttgart on Sunday. Kovac' troops will be back in action in four days, when they travel to face Ajax in the Champions League before taking on Hannover next Saturday.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen