Serge Gnarby scored a deadly double as Bayern Munich kept their grasp on the Bundesliga title race with a 6-0 rout against relegation-threatened Schalke at Allianz Arena.
Thomas Tuchel’s side claimed a comfortable win to go four points clear at the top on Saturday, although Borussia Dortmund could cut that lead when they host Borussia Monchengladbach later.
Thomas Reis’s visitors offered little as Thomas Muller’s fine finish and Joshua Kimmich’s penalty put Bayern in full control before the half-time whistle in Bavaria.
Gnabry’s brace after the break foreshadowed late strikes for Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui to further compound Schalke’s woes as the hosts continued their quest for an 11th straight title.
After beating Schalke 8-0 on their last visit to Munich in 2020, Bayern looked set to repeat the feat after Muller, Gnabry and Kingsley Coman missed early chances.
However, the visitors saw their resistance broken in the 21st minute when Muller curled Leroy Sane’s deft ball into the bottom left corner before things got worse.
A VAR review awarded Bayern a penalty eight minutes later for Cedric Brunner’s stray elbow on Jamal Musial, with Kimmich sending Alexander Schwolow the wrong way from the spot.
Gnabry did further damage after the break when he latched on to Joao Cancello’s cut-back pass to drill past Schwolow on the quarter-hour before rounding him for a second.
Tel added a late fifth off a pass from Musial to further round the scoring before Mazraoui cashed in on red-hot defense for the final strike in injury time.
Bayern Munich Player Rating vs Schalke
GK: Sommer – 6.7
RB: Pavard – 7.6
DF: Mazraoui – 8.2
DF: De Ligt – 7.3
LB: Cancelo – 8.4
MD: Kimmich – 7.9
MD: Musiala – 8.7
MD: Sane – 8.1
RW: Gnabry – 9.1
FW: Muller – 8.4
FW: Coman – 7.1