MUNICH: Jupp Heynckes marked his 1,000th game as a player and coach by sending out Germany league leaders Bayern Munich for a decisive 6-1 home thrashing of Werder Bremen.
Bayern followed up their Champions League midweek success at Arsenal by scoring a sixth win out of six games since the Bundesliga’s midwinter break. Victory fired them 18 points clear of Borussia Dortmund who were playing Borussia Monchengladbach later.
Bayern, who beat Schalke 4-0 in their previous home game, have won 19 of their 23 league games and conceded only eight goals. Mario Gomez scored twice with the others coming from Arjen Robben, Javi Martinez, Franck Ribery and Theodor Gebre Selassie own goal.
Heynckes, however, was not happy with the since goal conceded to
Kevin De Bruyne. He said: “My team did very well and scored some good goals. We want to maintain our rhythm, continue on our way, and not be put off by premature congratulations. But it’s annoying that we didn’t keep another clean sheet.”
Saint-Etienne move up
In France Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice to help Saint-Etienne beat bottom club Nancy 3-0 to move up within one point of fourth-placed Nice. Aubameyang’s second goal – his sixth in five games and 14th of term – sealed victory with two minutes to go.
In Holland Alfred Finnbogason headed home to seal a 2-1 home victory for Heerenveen over Twente Enschede who, after six games without a win, slipped to fifth place.
In Spain Barcelona recovered from their Champions League upset in Milan by hitting back from a goal down to win 2-1 at home to fellow cp semi-finalists Sevilla.
Alberto Botia struck in the closing minutes of the first half for Sevilla but David Villa and World Player of the Year Lionel Messi accomplished the second-half comeback to push Barcelona 15 points ahead of second-placed Atletico de Madrid.
Real Madrid are third with 52 points after also having to come from behind to beat bottom side Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 with late goals from Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain. Angel Di Maria was sent off after collecting a late second yellow card for not retreating at a free kick.
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