Frankfurt routs 10-man Bayern 5-1 in Bundesliga
BERLIN (AP) — Eintracht Frankfurt routed 10-man Bayern Munich 5-1 in the Bundesliga to give visiting coach Niko Kovac an unhappy return to his former side on Saturday.
Kovac, who coached Frankfurt to a German Cup win over Bayern in 2018, saw his former side end its 16-game winless run against the Bavarian powerhouse.
Bayern’s Jérôme Boateng was sent off in the 10th minute for bringing down Gonçalo Paciência as the last defender. Referee Markus Schmidt initially awarded the home side a penalty after Paciência fell in the area, but changed it to a free kick after consulting video replays.
Filip Kostic scored in off the far post in the 25th, and Djibril Sow made it 2-0 after more speedy Frankfurt play nine minutes later.
But Bayern can still count on Robert Lewandowski. The Poland striker showed all his prowess to elude two defenders with a turn before prodding the ball past Frederik Rönnow in the 37th.
With that, Lewandowski extended his Bundesliga record of scoring in the first 10 league games.
It was as good as it got for Bayern, however, with David Abraham, Martin Hinteregger and Paciência all scoring in the second half to deal the defending champion its second defeat of the season.
Also, Leipzig routed hapless Mainz 8-0, Borussia Dortmund beat previously unbeaten Wolfsburg 3-0, Werder Bremen drew with Freiburg 2-2, and Borussia Mönchengladbach maintained its one-point lead with a 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
Union Berlin was hosting Hertha Berlin in the first Bundesliga derby between the city’s biggest clubs later Saturday, one week before it marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
