Fortuna Dusseldorf 0-5 Bayern Munich: Eight wins out of eight for relentless leaders

Bayern Munich set a new record by beginning their Bundesliga campaign with eight consecutive wins as they breezed past Fortuna Dusseldorf in a 5-0 win at the Esprit Arena.

Some poor defending was at the heart of the hosts’ defeat as Mario Mandzukic was left in acres of space to set die Roten on their way to the win with a simple first-half strike. Luiz Gustavo bundled in a second and Thomas Muller added another two after the break. The Bavarians perfect start to the season was then ensured as Rafinha slotted home the final goal.

From the off it was clear that F95 were missing Stelios Malezas in defence as poor positioning and a lack of communication enabled Bayern to immediately set about working the keeper.

After Fabian Giefer had palmed away Toni Kroos’ near-post shot, he was almost beaten by one of his own men with 10 minutes gone. Juanan and Robbie Kruse both went to clear the same cross into the box and, but for some quick reactions from the keeper, the Australian could well have diverted the ball into his own net.

Jupp Heynckes’ side continued to enjoy the run of the play but with so many of the hosts’ players camped behind the ball they found it difficult to create opportunities.

Eventually, in the 28th minute they did create something, and it was tucked away by Mandzukic. Seeing space between Juanan and Johannes van den Bergh, the Croatian sauntered into the area and slid Franck Ribery’s cross into the net without a challenge.

Although Bayern have been guilty of easing off after going ahead in recent weeks, this time around the onslaught continued and just eight minutes later they doubled their lead.

Muller climbed above Andreas Lambertz at the back post to divert Philipp Lahm’s free kick from the left back on goal. Giefer managed to make the save but as Luiz Gustavo followed up, the ball bounced off of him, and then the keeper’s head, before the Brazilian rolled it in.

Norbert Meier initiated a brief improvement from his side after the break by sending on Andriy Voronin and Axel Bellinghausen, but Bayern’s clinical nature put a swift end to it.

With just seven second-half minutes played, an excellent move down the right flank ended with Ribery rolling the ball back to Muller. His sweetly-struck effort from 15 yards rocketed into the top corner, giving Giefer no chance.

It was a goal that deflated Dusseldorf massively and they had to rely on some last-ditch defending to get themselves out of several difficult situations in the second-half.

Once again they succumbed as a pair of late goals confined F95 to a humiliating defeat. Muller scored his second of the night as he steered home David Alaba’s cross four minutes from time and almost immediately Rafinha bagged the fifth with a cool finish.

Nevertheless, Jupp Heynckes’ men coasted to the win and therefore retain their five-point advantage over Eintracht Frankfurt at the summit with just eight games played.

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