Bayern Munich enjoyed their very own Super Saturday after a 2-0 win over Karlsruhe and a crushing defeat for their closest pursuers Werder Bremen left Ottmar Hitzfeld's side seven points clear.
Bayern dominated Karlsruhe, the sixth-placed club who have emerged as the surprise package of the season with Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni and Frank Ribery securing the points.
The France international's 65th minute effort was one to savor as he slalomed through the defense before nutmegging a defender for his sixth goal of the season and his third in the last 10 days.
"He was everywhere, he's impressive, a player like that can make the difference all by himself," Karlsruhe captain Maik Franz marveled.
Ribery, who signed for a Bundesliga record of 26 million euros (US$39.9 million), has played himself into the hearts of the Bayern fans after a scintillating first season since arriving from Marseille.
His fine display against Karlsruhe came on the back of equally impressive performances against city rivals 1860 in the German Cup and Thursday's 5-0 UEFA Cup romp over Anderlecht.
Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn will have been relieved to keep a clean sheet on a return to the club where his long career began back in 1987.
Vfb Stuttgart did Bayern a huge favor by seeing off Werder Bremen 6-3 on a day which could very easily emerge as the turning point of the campaign.
Yet Kahn injected a note of caution to anyone who believed that, the German veteran insisting: "It's too early to say that."
Stuttgart, the inconsistent defending champions, picked holes in Werder's defense with German international Mario Gomez scoring a hat-trick to compound a bad week for the visitors who were beaten by Rangers in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
This painful defeat will have been hard to take for Werder, who had opened the scoring.
This was Werder's sixth loss of the season and it left them on 43 points to Bayern's 50.
Schalke 04, on a high after qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals this week, ended a run of three-straight league defeats with a 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld to go fifth, 12 points adrift of the top.
ADVANTAGE ATLETICO: Well off the pace in La Liga, the Copa del Rey represents Atletico Madrid’s best chance of silverware this season Atletico Madrid on Thursday hammered Copa del Rey holders Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final. After an Eric Garcia own-goal sent Diego Simeone’s side ahead early on, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez struck to give Atletico a landslide lead by halftime. Barca defender Garcia was sent off in the final stages, with Atletico maintaining their significant advantage on the record 32-time winners, which they take into the second leg at the Camp Nou on March 3. Both sides missed good chances in the second half, with Barca’s Pau Cubarsi having a goal disallowed before Garcia was sent off
Dasun Shanaka hammered the fastest half-century by a Sri Lankan in T20Is as the cohosts thrashed Oman by 105 runs at the World Cup yesterday in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, for their second win in Group B. The 2014 champions piled up 225-5, the highest total of the tournament, before restricting an outclassed Oman to 120-9. The 43-year-old Mohammad Nadeem waged a lone battle for Oman, compiling an unbeaten 53 to become the oldest player to score a 50 in T20 World Cups. Having promoted himself up the order and under pressure to deliver, Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka smashed a 19-ball half-century. It has been
Kawhi Leonard on Sunday scored 41 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a lopsided 115-96 victory at Minnesota. The 34-year-old forward, a two-time NBA champion, matched the second-best road scoring effort of his career as the Clippers improved to 25-27. “Just being aggressive. My teammates trust me,” Leonard said. “Every moment when I touch the ball — assist, shooting the basketball or getting a rebound — I’m just trying to help the team win.” Leonard made three steals in a row at the start of the contest. “Just wanted to come out early in the
FLOP TO CONQUEROR: It was sweet vindication for Sam Darnold, who played for four NFL teams before his debut season in Seattle ended in the ultimate win The Seattle Seahawks on Sunday coasted to Super Bowl glory, routing the New England Patriots 29-13 as Sam Darnold sealed his journey from flop quarterback to conqueror of the NFL’s biggest prize. Brushing off a reputation for wilting in big games, journeyman quarterback Darnold threw for a touchdown and 200 yards on the grandest stage of all to give the Seahawks their second-ever Lombardi Trophy. “It’s unbelievable. Everything that has happened in my career, but to do it with this team, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Darnold said. The victory was buoyed by a dominant defensive display and kicker Jason Myers’
RSS