Bayern Munich thrash Cologne to record 1,000th Bundesliga win
Bayern Munich recorded their 1,000th Bundesliga win with a 4-0 victory over Cologne to maintain their 100% start to the season.
The German champions are on course to break the all-time record for consecutive wins at the start of the season – the record is held by Tottenham who won their first 11 games in the 1960/61 campaign. Goals from Arjen Robben, Arturo Vidal, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller leave Bayern one win away from the record.
For the visit of Cologne – the side to have picked up most league wins at Bayern – Pep Guardiola made three changes. Out of the side went Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Juan Bernat, while in came Kingsley Coman, Robben and Rafinha.
The 2-0 loss at Arsenal – the first defeat in 12 games – saw little inquest with Bayern Munich still on course for qualification in the Champions League. But Bayern needed a response, just to appease the punters, if anything.
From the first whistle, the Bavarians pinned Peter Stöger's Cologne into a 30-yard pen inside their own defensive third of the field. With three seriously good dribblers on the pitch, the chances of Cologne stemming the tide were practically null.
On six minutes, Robben cushioned a lovely left-foot volley towards goal and was denied by the extended arm of Timo Horn, the Cologne keeper. Horn, a promising number one on his own, was in for one of his busiest afternoons this season against a lethal Bayern front line.
Five minutes later, Horn was sharp to block Thomas Müller as the German international charged through one-on-one with the keeper. Cologne, playing a 3-5-2 formation, struggled to get Anthony Modeste involved on the counterattack with the first Bayern goal imminent.
Robben marked his return to the team with the opener on 35 minutes. He created the move, linking with Philipp Lahm before getting the return pass, dodging several Cologne defenders and slotting past Horn. On 40 minutes, Coman dribbled in from the wing and teed up Vidal who fired home from close range.
As noted by Opta, Bayern have won their last 38 Bundesliga games when they have taken a two-goal lead – the last time a side overturned that was Cologne in 2011. The Billy Goats ran out 3-2 winners in a memorable encounter with two strikes from cult hero Milovoje Novakovic.
But with Bayern Munich romping to the league championship, Cologne can be added to the list of sides swept aside by Guardiola's team. Lewandowski headed in his 13th of the season on 61 minutes before Müller slotted home his 10th goal in the same number of games from the penalty spot.
Bayern have won 44 games and stayed unbeaten in 64 when Müller has been on the scoresheet. Guardiola's men open up a 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga having played a game more than Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen recovered from 3-1 down to beat Stuttgart and complete their second extraordinary comeback of the week.
After a goalless first half, Martin Harnik finished off a fine move on 49 minutes to put the visitors ahead. Daniel Didavi scored five minutes later to put Alexander Zorniger's men 2-0 ahead. Then the match turned topsy-turvy: Karim Bellarabi scored a minute after coming on before Lukas Rupp scored a minute later to restore the two-goal advantage.
But Stuttgart's propensity to crumble is a cause for concern. Sebastian Boenisch scored first on 70 minutes to pull one back before Javier Hernandez levelled the scores less than 60 seconds later. Mehmedi, who clinched a 4-4 draw with Roma in midweek, netted on 88 minutes to complete another free-scoring match involving Leverkusen.
Werder Bremen has ended a run of five straight defeats with a 3-1 win at Mainz. The goals emanated from the left-hand side – Garcia crossed, the ball was poorly cleared by Balogun and Ujah headed home on 39 minutes.
Five minutes later, Garcia delivered on the overlap and Ujah clipped the ball home at the near-post - his fourth of the season. A minute later, Mainz fans were left reeling as Bremen secured a three-goal cushion when Fin Bartels followed up a lay off at the edge of the box and drilled home. Yoshinori Muto's goal late on was just a consolation for Martin Schmidt's Mainz.
Elsewhere, Daniel Caligiuri came off the bench to score the winner for Wolfsburg as they beat newly-promoted Darmstadt 1-0.
Last season's runner-up and Cup winners have had a slow start to the season, but record three straight wins in the Bundesliga to keep them in the hunt for the Champions League places. Caligiuri replaced Julian Draxler on 75 minutes, then went on to batter the ball home from 12 yards three minutes later and secure the three points for Dieter Hecking's men.
Marc Stendera scored a brace as Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind to beat Hannover 2-1.
Hiroshi Kiyotake inspired a strong first half performance for Hannover – and they took the lead through Felix Klaus on 51 minutes. But two in eight minutes from Stendera altered the balance of play as Hannover finished the day fourth bottom.
