Bayern routs Hoffenheim 7-1, Dortmund only draws
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2012 by YAHOO Sport
BERLIN (AP)—Bayern Munich demolished Hoffenheim 7-1 to deliver a statement of intent in the Bundesliga on Saturday, closing the gap on Borussia Dortmund to four points after the leader could only draw 0-0 with Augsburg.
Mario Gomez scored a hat-trick for Bayern, opening the scoring in the fifth minute, adding another in the 35th and bringing his season total to a league-leading 21 goals in the 48th.
Arjen Robben scored twice, including a penalty, with Toni Kroos and Franck Ribery—who set up three goals—also scoring.
“It was a lot of fun,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said.
Hoffenheim will take little consolation from Luiz Gustavo’s 85th minute own goal.
Dortmund remains unbeaten in 19 games—equaling a club record—but failed to create many chances in Saturday’s late game as Augsburg pulled out of the relegation zone and ended the league leader’s eight-game winning run.
Roman Weidenfeller saved from Augsburg midfielder Axel Bellinghausen after the interval, before his counterpart Simon Jentzsch denied the visitors with a fingertip save from Kevin Grosskreutz.
“We came here with 55 points and we’re going home with 56. That’s all right,” said Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp, whose side stays five points ahead of Bayern with nine games to play.
Cologne beat Hertha Berlin 1-0 in a game where three players were sent off, Wolfsburg overcame Bayer Leverkusen 3-2, Mainz beat Nuremberg 2-1 and there was a scoreless draw between third-place Borussia Moenchengladbach and relegation-threatened Freiburg.
“It’s not the end of the world that we drew,” said Moenchengladbach winger Marco Reus, whose side remains eight points behind Dortmund.
It was a miserable afternoon for Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel on his return to the club where he made his Bundesliga debut as a player in 1991.
“I absolutely hate losing, but when Bayern start rolling it’s hard to prevent it,” Babbel said, acknowledging it could have been even worse.
“We have to be happy that we only conceded seven.”
Gomez ended his three-game scoring drought when the rebound from Tom Starke’s save fell kindly for the 26-year-old player.
Robben sent Starke the wrong way from the penalty spot seven minutes later, and Kroos effectively ended the game in the 18th minute, with a low shot inside the left post.
Ribery played Robben through to score his second in the 29th and then crossed for Gomez to score with a header, before the Germany striker completed his hat-trick with another header, from a corner.
Robben then returned Ribery’s earlier favor for the Frenchman to power beyond the unfortunate Starke and finish from a narrow angle.
“We played ourselves into a frenzy. The goals were a delicacy, how they were played out,” Heynckes said.
Bayern had further reason to cheer when Bastian Schweinsteiger returned from a month out with an ankle injury, Heynckes bringing the Germany midfielder on in the 62nd.
His side now turns its attention to the Champions League, where it needs to overturn a 1-0 deficit to FC Basel.
“This will give us a push for Tuesday,” Heynckes said.
Cologne celebrated an important victory thanks to Christian Clemens’s 36th-minute goal.
The home side had Mato Jajalo sent off in the 66th, 10 minutes before both sides were depleted.
Levan Kobiashvili earned a yellow card for a foul and then another for his furious reaction to words from Sascha Riether. Lukas Podolski became involved, when he threatened to headbutt the Georgian, for which the German international earned a direct red card.
Mainz made a blistering start at home to Nuremberg, with Nicolai Mueller scoring inside the first minute, before Mohamed Zidan scored for the sixth consecutive game since his transfer from Dortmund when his free kick eluded everyone and sneaked inside the far post.
No other player has scored for six games in a row this season, and no player had ever done it in the Bundesliga after moving to a new club.
Daniel Didavi scored a 64th-minute consolation, 20 minutes before Mainz striker Adam Szalai earned a second yellow card for diving.
There was also an early goal in Wolfsburg, where Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling scored his eighth goal of the season in the third minute.
Former Leverkusen player Patrick Helmes equalized 30 minutes later, and Ashkan Dejagah put Wolfsburg ahead before the break.
Leverkusen defender Michal Kadlec was unfortunate to score an own goal in the 64th, before Eren Derdiyok pulled one back in the last minute.
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