Thomas Mueller starred as Bayern Munich got back to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a 4-0 rout of VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
The home side needed just 11 minutes to break the deadlock on a counterattack after a Stuttgart corner. Mueller sent Douglas Costa on his way and the Brazilian crossed for Arjen Robben, who appeared to score with his stomach.
Mueller crossed for Costa seven minutes later, albeit after starting from an offside position, and for Robert Lewandowski’s 14th league goal of the season in the 37th minute.
Photo: Reuters
Provider Mueller turned finisher three minutes later after Arturo Vidal’s initial effort struck the crossbar.
Bayern, who had their Bundesliga record 10-game winning start end in a scoreless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt the previous weekend, had 23 shots at goal in the first half alone.
Stuttgart’s anger over Bayern’s second goal was compounded after the break when Timo Werner had a goal ruled out for a controversial offside.
Holger Badstuber came on in the 59th minute for Mueller, the Bayern defender making his comeback after almost six months out with a thigh injury.
“It was a tremendous gesture from the fans. It gets under your skin,” Badstuber said of his warm reception.
Bayern’s 34 points from 12 games is a Bundesliga record.
“If we don’t win the treble, it’s a bad season,” Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. “I know where I am, it’s like in Barcelona. We have to win, win, win.”
Andre Schubert’s six-game winning start in charge of Borussia Moenchengladbach ended in a bad-tempered scoreless draw with Ingolstadt 04.
Referee Marco Fritz issued nine yellow cards, including two for Moenchengladbach captain Granit Xhaka, who was sent off in the 86th minute.
Interim coach Schubert had been going for Otto Rehhagel’s record of starting with seven wins from his time with Bayern in 1995.
“We tried to get the goal even with a player less,” Schubert said. “I have to take my hat off to my team for that.”
Dominic Maroh was the hero for Cologne, who defeated Rhine rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 away.
Maroh converted from close range after Kyriakos Papadopoulos was unable to clear Marcel Risse’s corner in the 17th minute and he sealed the win in the 72nd with a header after Javier Hernandez equalized in the 33rd.
Leverkusen’s hopes were dented when Papadopoulos was sent off for a challenge on Anthony Modeste in the 53rd minute.
“It’s nice, but it’s only three points,” Cologne sporting director Joerg Schmadtke said.
Also on Saturday, VfL Wolfsburg lost 2-0 at FSV Mainz 05 and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim drew 0-0 at home with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Frankfurt had a penalty appeal waved away before the break when Makoto Hasebe was brought down by Kim Jin-su and Aleksandar Ignjovski missed an open goal for the visitors afterward.
“When I see how we can play, and then see how we played, I cannot be satisfied,” Hoffenheim coach Huub Stevens said after his first home game in charge.
Wolfsburg were on the back foot from the 13th minute when Julian Draxler was sent off for a high challenge on Gonzalo Jara. It appeared the Wolfsburg midfielder was only looking at the ball, but he caught the Chile defender in the face.
Pablo de Blasis scored in the 31st minute when Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio could only push Spanish midfielder Jairo’s cross to his feet and Yunus Malli sealed it with a fine effort in the 75th.
In the late match on Saturday, SV Darmstadt 98 drew 1-1 with Hamburg SV.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga put Hamburg ahead with a penalty in the 29th minute, only for Marcel Heller to equalize with a header one minute after the break.
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