December 14, (THEWILL) –Â Bayern Munich thrashed Stuttgart 5-0 on Tuesday evening to move nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Serge Gnabry scored a hattrick and assisted the other goals in a man-of-the-match performance.
After a quiet start at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, the hosts created the finest chance, but Omar Marmoush could only drag his shot wide after being slipped in on goal midway through the first half.
Bayern continued to assert themselves and were rewarded for their dominance five minutes before halftime when Gnabry sprang up to give them the lead. Leroy Sané, an early substitute, made a driving run from halfway before passing to his compatriot, who bent a superb first-time strike into the top corner.
Stuttgart came out roaring in the second half, creating two good chances, but Wataro Endo was unable to convert a close-range driven cross, and Philipp Forster concluded a nice move by shooting straight at Manuel Neuer.
Die Schwaben were made to pay a price just a few moments later. Gnabry was spotted on the counter in acres of space in the box by Thomas Muller, who cut in onto his left foot and finished with aplomb.
Three goals in five minutes put the game out of reach, and Gnabry was involved in all three. First, the winger pounced on a sloppy pass and floated the ball to Robert Lewandowski, who ran down on goal and sumptuously dinked the goalie.
Soon after, the former Arsenal midfielder provided another assist for the prolific Pole, with his low delivery converted, before completing his hat-trick, tapping the ball in after Florian Muller mishandled a cross at his feet.
There was still time for Muller to make a fantastic double save and Lewandowski to come within a whisker of completing a hat-trick of his own.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
