Leader Bayern Munich thrash Union Berlin

BERLIN: Bayern Munich recovered from their hammering German Cup exit and returned to winning ways after cruising 5-2 past Union Berlin at the 10th round of Bundesliga on Saturday.

The Bavarians left no doubt that they wanted to make amends for their 5-0 knockout as the Bundesliga front runners took the reins from the staring whistle after Leroy Sane missed the target just wide with 7 minutes gone.

Bayern was rewarded eight minutes later though as Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock after capitalizing on a hand ball penalty.

The Pole wasn't done with the scoring and wrapped up his brace with 23 minutes played after curling a free kick past Union goalkeeper Andreas Luthe into the top right corner.

Although the German giants were two goals in front, they pressed frenetically forward as Lewandowski tested Luthe in a one-on-one before Sane tripled the advantage by latching onto Thomas Muller's assist in the 34th minute.

The hosts eventually showed a sign of life in the closing stages of the first half as Niko Giesselmann beat Bayern custodian Manuel Neuer from eight meters to make it 3-1 on the scoreboards.

Union came out highly motivated after the break and came close twice, but Neuer denied Sheraldo Becker and Timo Baumgartl in quick succession in the 51st minute.

Becker continued to keep Bayern's defence busy, but Neuer was once again on guard to defuse Becker's shot to the far post moments later.

Bayern responded clinically and established their three-goal lead out of thin air as Kingsley Coman danced through Berlin's defence before finishing off a counterattack into the roof of the net at the hour mark.

Resilient Union remained unimpressed and halved the deficit four minutes later when Kevin Behrens teed up for Julian Ryerson, who made no mistake to overcome Neuer from inside the box.

Bayern responded in style and put the result beyond doubt after Dayot Upamecano raced down the pitch before finding Muller, who made it 5-2 from 12 meters in the 79th minute.

With the result, Bayern maintain their one-point lead atop the standings meanwhile Union Berlin slipped to the 6th spot after suffering its second loss of the season.

Elsewhere, runners-up Borussia Dortmund remain on Bayern's heels after seeing off Cologne 2-0 on the goals from Thorgan Hazard and Steffen Tigges.

Third placed Freiburg extended their unbeaten run to 10 games after moving 3-1 past newly promoted Greuther Furth, who suffered their 8th straight defeat.

Wolfsburg ended their three-game losing streak and reaped a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen while wasteful Mainz edged bottom side Arminia Bielefeld 2-1. Agencies

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