Bayern slams six past Schalke to stay on course
Serge Gnarby bagged a double as Bayern Munich kept its 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, although Borussia Dortmund sliced the gap back to one with a big win of its own, beating Borussia Monchengladbach 5-2 later in the day.
Thomas Reis's visitors offered little as Thomas Muller's pinpoint finish and a Joshua Kimmich penalty placed Bayern in full control before the half-time whistle in Bavaria.
Gnabry's brace after the break prefaced late strikes for Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui, further compounding Schalke's misery, as the hosts continued their charge towards an 11th straight title.
Having handed Schalke an 8-0 thrashing on its last visit to Munich in 2020, Bayern looked like it might repeat that feat after Muller, Gnabry and Kingsley Coman all missed early chances.
The visitors saw their resistance broken 21 minutes in however when the former curled Leroy Sane's deft ball into the bottom-left corner, before matters worsened.
A video assistant referee (VAR) check awarded Bayern a penalty eight minutes later for a stray Cedric Brunner elbow on Jamal Musiala, with Kimmich sending Alexander Schwolow the wrong way from the spot.
Gnabry inflicted further damage after the interval, seizing Joao Cancelo's cut-back pass to drill past the goalkeeper, a quarter-hour before he rounded him for a second.
Tel added a late fifth from Musiala's pass to further pad the scoreline, before Mazraoui capitalised on torrid defending for a final strike in stoppage-time.
