Mané scores on debut, Bayern starts Bundesliga with 6-1 rout

BERLIN: Sadio Mané scored on his league debut and Bayern Munich routed Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 to start the new Bundesliga on Friday. Jamal Musiala got two goals and Joshua Kimmich, Benjamin Pavard and Serge Gnabry also scored as Bayern showed no ill effect from Robert Lewandowski’s summer transfer to Barcelona. The sheer dominance against the team that won the Europa League last season shows why Bayern remain the firm favorite for a record-extending 11th consecutive title.

The Bavarian powerhouse had 17 shots at goal in the first half alone, when the visitors could also shrug off a comical miss from Thomas Müller. Both the opening ceremony and a passionate performance of the German anthem by pop singer Carolin Niemczyk were whistled by the home fans, who marked the occasion in their own way by setting off banned pyrotechnics behind one of the goals. It sent a huge cloud of smoke over the Frankfurt goal and may even have aided the visitors as Joshua Kimmich scored through the haze with a free kick in off the right post in the fifth minute.

Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was expecting a cross, was late to react. Benjamin Pavard made it 2-0 in the 11th on a rebound of Müller’s blocked effort. Bayern had to wait till the 29th for Mané to get the third with a header to Serge Gnabry’s floated cross.

It was the Senegalese forward’s first Bundesliga goal following his transfer from Liverpool. Müller gave Jamal Musiala a tap-in in the 35th and Gnabry got the fifth just before halftime. Only the break provided relief for the beleaguered home team.