Pep Guardiola's side ran out convincing winners on
Saturday evening and made sure they capitalised on BVB's earlier slip up.
Getty
Bayern Munich moved level on points with Bundesliga
leaders Borussia Dortmund on Saturday with a 4-0 win over Schalke at the
Veltins Arena.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Mandzukic put Bayern two
goals to the good after 22 minutes before Franck Ribery and Claudio Pizarro
added further strikes in the second half to extend their unbeaten run in the
Bundesliga to 31.
Both sides enjoyed winning starts to their UEFA Champions
League campaigns in midweek and made one change from their European outings,
with Schalke bringing in Jermaine Jones in place of Marco Hoger.
The champions named Schweinsteiger in their starting
line-up, with Thomas Muller dropping to the bench.
David Alaba almost made it two goals in four days after
nine minutes, flashing a free-kick just wide for the visitors, before Toni
Kroos curled over from inside the box on what was his 150th Bundesliga
appearance.
Adam Szalai should have opened the scoring 16 minutes in,
but he failed to connect sufficiently with a Kevin-Prince Boateng cross and
Bayern were able to clear.
But the visitors did edge ahead 21 minutes in courtesy of
the returning Schweinsteiger.
Arjen Robben's corner found the unmarked midfielder, who
headed into the far corner of the goal beyond the despairing lunge of defender
Astuto Uchida on the line.
Mandzukic doubled Bayern's lead just a minute later,
again through a header, this time from Alaba's delivery.
The Croatia international's effort beat Timo Hildebrand
before striking Benedikt Howedes on the line and dribbling in.
Schalke had not conceded in three games going into
Saturday's clash and will have been relieved to see Robben's strike deflected
wide just short of the half-hour mark.
Mandzukic shot over from inside the area after good work
from Robben on the right, six minutes after the break, as Pep Guardiola's side
pressed for a third.
While the hosts had plenty of possession, they were
unable to make it count, with their final ball letting them down as they
searched for a way back into the game.
Boateng's off-target header from a Julian Draxler cross
just after the hour was their first opportunity of the half but Bayern's lethal
touch was soon evident again on 74 minutes.
Alaba played the ball across the box into the path of the
arriving Ribery and, despite a less-than-perfect touch from the France
international, the ball rolled past Hildebrand to put the visitors 3-0 up.
Pizarro added a fourth seven minutes from time with a
simple tap-in after good work from fellow substitute Muller, as Bayern made it
five wins from six in the league this season.
They share the same points and goal difference as
Dortmund, who were held 1-1 by Nuremberg.
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