European football: Bayern Munich hammer Union Berlin to close on records

3 hours ago 1

Bayern Munich scored three times in seven minutes to cruise past Union Berlin 4-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday and open up a 12-point lead at the top while edging closer to an all-time club scoring record.

The Bavarian club, chasing three trophies and fresh from their midweek Champions League quarter-final qualification with a 10-2 aggregate win over Atalanta, are on 70 points with second-placed Borussia Dortmund, on 58, playing Hamburg later.

Bayern have now scored 97 league goals, four short of equalling the all-time club record in the 1971-72 Bundesliga campaign. “We will get the record but the priority for me is something else,” Vincent Kompany, their coach, said. “I am not someone who likes talking about this record. I am not too interested. Your playing style does not stop because the season is coming to an end.

“We must never forget what our strengths are and keep bringing them to the pitch regardless of the opponent.”

Union managed to compete for half an hour before the hosts turned up the pressure, with the teenager Lennart Karl, who earned a Germany call-up this week, hitting a post. Michael Olise did better in the 42nd minute, curling a shot past Frederik Rønnow to put Bayern ahead.

Serge Gnabry fired home the second goal in first-half stoppage time before the Bundesliga’s leading scorer Harry Kane added the third four minutes after the restart. Kane, chasing Robert Lewandowski’s 41-goal record in a single Bundesliga season, now has 31 league goals with seven matches remaining.

Gnabry unleashed a powerful shot to bag his second goal in the 67th minute as the one-way traffic continued and Olise hit the woodwork with a low drive late in the game before Kane nearly added another but chipped the ball wide.

Later on Saturday in Italy, Milan can cut Inter’s Serie A lead down to five points overnight by beating Torino, while Juventus must beat Sassuolo to ensure they are not overtaken on Sunday by Cesc Fàbregas’s Como. In France, Paris Saint-Germain visit Nice seeking to return to the top of Ligue 1 at the expense of Lens, who have played two games more but went two points clear on Friday with a 5-1 win against Angers.