James Rodriguez on target as Bayern Munich beat Schalke
James Rodriguez scored his first goal in Bayern Munich colours as Carlo Ancelotti’s side eased to a comfortable 3-0 win at Schalke.
Schalke 0-3 Bayern
Goals: 0-1 Lewandowski (pen., 25’), 0-2 James (29’), 0-3 Vidal (75')
The Royal Blues, on the back foot from the get-go, thought they had broken the deadlock midway through the first half when Bastian Oczipka tucked home from close range, but the former Eintracht Frankfurt man was adjudged to be in an offside position. Bayern were awarded a penalty just two minutes later after Naldo handled inside the box, allowing Robert Lewandowski to stroke home his sixth league goal of the season from the spot. The visitors extended their lead soon afterwards, James opening his account for the club with a clinical finish past Ralf Fährmann.
Thomas Müller went within a whisker of making it 3-0 six minutes into the second half when his header from James’ cross struck the post, before Daniel Caligiuri and half-time substitute Yevhen Konoplyanka both drilled wide at the other end from promising positions. Domenico Tedesco threw on Breel Embolo shortly before the hour mark in an effort to salvage something from the game, but it was not to be for Schalke as Arturo Vidal finished off a flowing Bayern move to seal a win which lifts the champions top of the Bundesliga ahead of Wednesday’s encounters.
Man of the match
Ancelotti will be thrilled with James’ display in Gelsenkirchen. The 26-year-old, who has only recently returned from a thigh injury, registered a goal and an assist a the Veltins-Arena, slotting past Fährmann in the first half before teeing up Vidal with a superb through-ball in the second.
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Match stats
- Lewandowski has converted his last 14 penalties in the Bundesliga. Ten of those have been for Bayern.Prior to Matchday 5, each of the Pole’s five league goals this season had come after half-time.James found the net with his first shot of the season.The Real Madrid loanee's strike was Bayern's 100th Bundesliga goal under Carlo Ancelotti.Bayern struck the woodwork for the sixth time this season against Schalke.There were 22 passes in the build-up to the Bavarians’ third goal.Vidal’s strike was his first of the 2017/18 campaign.
Watch: James Rodriguez on scoring his maiden Bundesliga goal for Bayern
Line-ups
Schalke: Fährmann - Kehrer, Naldo, Nastasic - Caligiuri, McKennie (Embolo, 57'), Bentaleb, Oczipka - Goretzka, Harit (Konoplyanka, 46') - Burgstaller (Di Santo, 78')
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Bayern: Ulreich - Kimmich, Javi Martinez (Hummels, 77'), Süle, Rafinha - Tolisso (Vidal, 69'), Rudy - Coman, James Rodriguez, Müller - Lewandowski (Thiago Alcantara, 65')
Coach: Carlo Ancelotti