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James Rodriguez and Robert Lewandowski send Bayern Munich to victory at Schalke

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James Rodriguez scored for the second consecutive Bundesliga game and won a penalty as Bayern Munich maintained their perfect start to the season with victory at Schalke.

Schalke 0-2 Bayern Munich

Goals: 0-1 James (8’), 0-2 Lewandowski (pen. 64’)

After scoring one and having a goal ruled out from the bench in the Matchday 3 win over Bayer Leverkusen, James was rewarded with his first Bundesliga start of the season. The Colombia international repaid head coach Niko Kovac’s trust almost immediately, heading in an eighth-minute corner from Joshua Kimmich to give the defending champions the lead. Schalke could not get near the rampant visitors and had Ralf Fährmann to thank for denying James one-on-one, before David Alaba struck the crossbar with a devilish free-kick from fully 30 yards.

James spurned a glorious opening to add to his tally early in the second half, side-footing wide of an open goal following a sensational passing move involving Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller and Franck Ribery. A Breel Embolo header that whistled wide of Manuel Neuer’s left-hand post offered Schalke a momentary reprieve, although the loss of USA midfielder Weston McKennie to a serious-looking leg injury hardly helped their cause. Lewandowski duly put the hosts out of their misery from the penalty spot after James had been brought down by Alessandro Schöpf to send Bayern back to the Bundesliga summit.

Match stats

    James scored his first Bundesliga goal against Schalke last September. James’ goal was Bayern’s fastest of the season (eight minutes). Four players were facing their former clubs: Bayern’s Manuel Neuer and Leon Goretzka; and Schalke’s Sebastian Rudy and Schöpf. Neuer made his 350th Bundesliga appearance; Thiago his 100th. Lewandowski has scored more Bundesliga goals (183) than the entire Schalke team that started the game (165). He grabbed his first Bundesliga goal against the Royal Blues, for Borussia Dortmund, on 19 September 2010, and now has 14 in 16 career outings against the Ruhr district club. It’s eight years since Bayern last lost a Bundesliga match played during Oktoberfest. They also won at Schlake during last years’s festivities.

Watch: James wants Bayern to keep up the performances!

Line-ups

Schalke: Fährmann (c) – Sane, Naldo, Nastasic – Caligiuri, Rudy, McKennie (Bentaleb 54'), Schöpf – Di Santo (Harit 64') – Uth (Burgstaller 73'), Embolo
Unused subs: Nübel, Mendyl, Mascarell, Konoplyanka
Absentees: Oczipka (groin), Stambouli (ankle)
Coach: Domenico Tedesco

Bayern: Neuer (c) – Kimmich, Süle, Hummels, Alaba – Goretzka, Thiago – Müller, James (Sanches 87'), Ribery (Gnabry 83') – Lewandowski (Wagner 79')
Unused subs: Ulreich, Martinez, Robben, Boateng
Absentees: Coman (ankle), Rafinha (ankle), Tolisso (knee)
Coach: Niko Kovac

As it happened

Click here for the Schalke vs. Bayern Match Centre!