Football: Bayern demolish Dortmund to reclaim Bundesliga top spot

MUNICH, Germany - Champions Bayern Munich dismantled Bundesliga title rivals Borussia Dortmund 5-0 on Saturday, scoring four goals in a flawless first half to reclaim top spot and get back on course for a record-extending seventh straight league crown.

The Bavarians exploded into action and scored twice in the opening 17 minutes through Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski, adding two more from Javi Martinez and Serge Gnabry before the interval.

Lewandowski's strike meant the Polish forward became only the fifth player in Bundesliga history to reach the 200-goal mark and the first foreigner to do so.

The hosts, who drew 1-1 at Freiburg last week, stepped off the gas after the break and controlled the game before Lewandowski scored again in the 89th minute and Bayern moved up to 64 points with six matches remaining, one point clear of Dortmund.

"We put them instantly under pressure. We wanted to attack them early and we overran them," Bayern coach Niko Kovac said. "It was exactly what we had set out to do. We may have had some slip-ups this season but that happens.

"There were many critics of this team and that is why I am really happy for my players today."

The first chance, however, fell to Dortmund with Mo Dahoud hitting the post after a lightning quick break.

But that was the last Dortmund attack for a long time, with a glancing header by Hummels putting the host ahead in the 10th minute and highlighting their aerial superiority.

In total Bayern had 22 shots on goal compared to Dortmund's four and things got worse when Dan-Axel Zagadou's backpass fell to Lewandowski in the 17th and the Bundesliga's leading scorer chipped it over keeper Roman Buerki and volleyed in.

Poland's Lewandowski, who has scored 21 in the league this season, was the first player to break the 200-goal milestone since 1987.

Buerki had to rescue his team again when Hummels and Lewandowski beat the Dortmund defenders in the air.

The keeper denied Thomas Mueller from close range in the 41st minute but could do nothing to stop Martinez's rebound that put the hosts 3-0 up.

Gnabry added another to kill off any hopes of a comeback by Dortmund, who badly missed their injured top scorer Paco Alcacer.

Lewandowski notched his 21st goal of the season and 201st in the Bundesliga to put the cherry on top of a big win for Bayern which made them title favourites once more.

"This was clearly a lesson for us today," said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre. "We have to accept it. They were faster, more aggressive, more skilled. We now must focus on the next game." 

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hummels goal brings Germany to World Cup semis

RIO DE JANEIRO - An early Mats Hummels header proved enough for Germany to beat France 1-0 in a tense, error-strewn, and largely uninspiring World Cup quarterfinal at the Maracana on Friday.

The defender scored the only goal of a match neither team ever took control of when he headed in a free kick from Toni Kroos after 13 minutes.

In a game of few clear chances, Germany keeper Manuel Neuer denied France a shot at extra time when he blocked Karim Benzema's effort.

Germany, the first country to qualify for four successive semi-finals, will meet either hosts Brazil or Colombia in the semi-final next week. The South Americans meet in the second quarter-final of the day in Fortaleza (2000GMT).

Joachim Loew's side will have to play much better than they did against France to reach their first final since 2002.

Germany went ahead when they won a free kick on the left after Paul Pogba fouled Kroos who took the free kick himself and swung a perfectly flighted ball towards Hummels.

The center back launched himself at the ball and held off defender Raphael Varane in the same movement and powerfully flicked the ball in with it grazing the underside of Hugo Lloris's bar for his second goal of the tournament.

France took time to respond but came close to an equalizer in the 34th minute when Mathieu Valbuena shot from close range but was denied by a superb save from Neuer who turned the ball away with his left hand.

Either because of the sun beating down from a cloudless sky or because of the tension of the occasion, neither team played well, although France were particularly poor.

Both made error after error and the game rarely set the pulses racing until the last 15 minutes as France desperately searched for the equalizer that never came.

Substitute Andre Schuerrle should have doubled Germany's lead but his low strike was blocked by Lloris.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com