Bayern victors after Mandzukic double
Munich - FC Bayern Munich made it five league wins from five after comfortably seeing off VfL Wolfsburg by a 3-0 scoreline in the Allianz Arena.
Hosts on the attack
Bastian Schweinsteiger put an early miss behind him to open the scoring from Franck Ribery's cross, before Mario Mandzukic settled the result with two headed efforts in the second half. The Bavarians bossed proceedings from start to finish and will have sent a clear message out to their title rivals, such was the extent of their dominance in this match.
The home side began the match looking like a side that had won its first four games and might have gone in front as early as the second minute, as Schweinsteiger slammed a close-range shot against the post from a Ribery corner. Jupp Heynckes' charges were utterly dominant, with Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri looking particularly comfortable in the No. 10 role. Yet they were just as impressive without the ball, recovering possession superbly with some ruthless pressing.
After Schweinsteiger struck the other post with a thunderbolt from distance, he made it third time lucky and finally broke the Wolves' resistance, sliding to convert Ribery's cross after a neat pass by Arjen Robben. Wolfsburg got some kind of a foothold towards the half-hour mark, but were perilously close to conceding a second, as Mandzukic was denied by a last-ditch challenge from Emanuel Pogatetz after Shaqiri's lung-busting run had dissected the away side's defence.
Benaglio finally beaten
With Bas Dost isolated and Diego out-numbered each time he touched the ball, Wolfsburg had no outlet whatsoever and it seemed just a matter of time before the second Bayern goal arrived. As it was, though, the away side had Diego Benaglio to thank, as he produced stunning saves to deny former teammate Mandzukic, Shaqiri and then Schweinsteiger again, before the referee's whistle gave Magath's team some much-needed respite.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the pattern of the game barely changed after the interval and within minutes of the restart Wolfsburg were again indebted to Benaglio. The Swiss No. 1 first palmed away a Mandzukic half-volley and then sprawled himself bravely to deflect Robben's follow-up clear of goal. It was to no avail, however, as a long-overdue second arrived for the hosts when Mandzukic nodded in at the back post after Shaqiri had chased down a lost cause and delivered a brilliant cross.
Mandzukic in the right place
The result was effectively settled at 2-0, but it didn't stop the hungry Bayern players from continuing to pour forward. Captain Philipp Lahm soon got in on the action, producing a cross as good as Shaqiri's earlier that Croatian international Mandzukic converted with an expert glancing header.
Ribery and Shaqiri had further efforts from range, but the home side had by now taken their foot off the gas. Wolves substitute Vierinha had an impact off the bench with some direct running to keep the Bayern defence on their toes. Other than an angled drive from Ivica Olic, however, Manuel Neuer barely broke a sweat between the posts for Bayern, as they cruised to a fifth successive victory and another clean sheet.
Line-ups and statistics
Bernie Reeves
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