Lewandowski scores twice in Bayern romp

Robert Lewandowski netted twice on his 100th Bundesliga appearance for Bayern Munich which brushed off its internal strife with a 4-0 hammering of Mainz Saturday.

Lewandowski has now netted 82 goals for Munich amidst reports he wants to join Real Madrid next season, but Bayern chairman Uli Hoeness laughed off the claim by Spanish newspaper AS.

"It's not April 1," the Bayern boss told broadcaster Sport1.

The rout left Bayern second in Germany's top flight, a point behind Hanover 96, who claimed the lead after four games with a 2-0 win over Hamburg Friday.

This was a much improved performance from Bayern compared to last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Hoffenheim and Tuesday's lackluster 3-0 win at home to 10-man Anderlecht in the Champions League.

Arjen Robben had slammed Bayern's performance against the Belgians, while Lewandowski had added to the unrest by criticizing the club's spending policy.

That came after Thomas Mueller had complained about being benched for the 2-0 win at Werder Bremen.

However, all three scored against Mainz at Munich's Allianz Arena Saturday.

Mueller opened the scoring after just 11 minutes when he drilled home Robben's pass on Bayern's first attack.

The flying Dutch winger added a second on 23 minutes when Joshua Kimmich's pass put him in behind the defense and he drilled his shot home.

Lewandowski then doubled the damage with two superb goals.

Kimmich released Mueller on the right wing, who put in a superb cross for the Poland striker to convert on 50 minutes.

Lewandowski grabbed his second and Bayern's fourth goal when he headed across Mainz's former Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler.

Franck Ribery started on Bayern's bench having thrown his shirt away in disgust after being substituted late against Anderlecht.

Borussia Dortmund can go top of the table Sunday if it beats Cologne at home Sunday, while RB Leipzig hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach Saturday.

Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka scored the second-half winner as Schalke went third with a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.

The hosts took an early lead as Lamine Sane slammed home off his left foot on 20 minutes, but Bremen's former Tottenham Hotspur defender Milos Veljkovic then netted an own goal.

Goretzka hit the winner seven minutes from time when he drilled home with his left foot.

VfB Stuttgart captain Christian Genter had to be stretchered off following a nasty collision with Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels late in his team's 1-0 home victory after Chadrac Akolo scored the winner.

Casteels's knee caught Gentner in the face and Stuttgart's team doctor reacted quickly on the pitch after the midfielder, whose face was covered in blood, had swallowed his tongue.

"He has definitely got a bad concussion, probably broken a few bones, but the doctor says he will make a full recovery," said Stuttgart coach Hannes Wolf.

"That was a shock for us all, they were dramatic minutes. We're all under a bit of shock and couldn't enjoy the win, our thoughts are with our captain."

Brazil midfielder Caiuby scored what proved to be a superb winner with a long-range strike in Augsburg's 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt which moved his team up to fifth.
Inter stays top
Inter Milan left it late before sealing a fourth consecutive win in as many games to sit top of Serie A with a 2-0 victory at Crotone Saturday.

Luciano Spalletti's side suffered in the heat of Calabria but late strikes from Milan Skriniar and Ivan Perisic put them top ahead of champion Juventus and Napoli.

Crotone shocked Inter 2-1 at the Stadio Ezio Scida last April in a defeat that effectively ended the Milan club's bid for European football this season.

But despite the pressure the Serie A strugglers held on for 80 minutes largely thanks to the efforts of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who saved from Aleksandar Tonev and Marcus Rohden just after the break.

But the final ten minutes proved fatal with first defender Skriniar scoring on 82 minutes after a free kick which the Crotone defense failed to clear, and then in-form Croatian striker Perisic three minutes into time added on.

Crotone narrowly avoided the drop last season and is also in the bottom three after just one point from four games.

Later Saturday, Roma look for their first win since the opening weekend against Verona with Alessandro Florenzi set to return after missing almost a year with knee ligament damage, as Fiorentina want to build on their 5-0 win over Verona against Bologna.

Source: AFP