Bayern Munich to beat Darmstadt was probably the Bundesliga banker of the weekend, but inside five minutes, that status looked incredibly ropey.
Masters of their own downfall, Bayern played their way into trouble, and when Joshua Kimmich had his pocket picked by Marvin Mehlem, he had no option but to bring him down, although Kimmich’s decision resulted in a straight red card.
Undeterred, Bayern continued to probe and came within a whisker of taking the lead moments later when Leroy Sane’s fierce drive from the edge of the area forced a fingertip save from Marcel Schuhen.
Even with a man advantage, Darmstadt were finding it difficult to stem the Bayern flow, and they were again left thanking Schuhen for some heroic goalkeeping to keep them on level terms when he thwarted Harry Kane.
Player numbers were soon on level terms when Klaus Gjasula’s yellow card for a foul on Konrad Laimer was upgraded to a red after contact was adjudged to have come outside the box. The red cards just kept on coming and it was soon 10 vs 9 in Bayern’s favour when Matej Maglica tripped Kane outside the area.
The hosts thought they’d instantly capitalised on their numerical advantage, but Sane’s joy was cut short by the assistant referee’s flag when he swept home. Bayern did eventually manufacture a breakthrough shortly into the second half through Kane. Noussair Mazraoui’s ball was inch-perfect and the former Spurs hitman made no mistake in lashing home the opener at long last.
Like London buses, a second swiftly arrived which essentially ended the game as a contest, with Laimer heavily involved, squaring for Sane to tap home their second in a matter of minutes. He’d been threatening all afternoon, and Sane soon had his second of the game when he thundered home from the edge of the area.
The pick of the bunch definitely belonged to Kane though, who caught Schuhen off his line from within his own half just moments before substitute Thomas Muller swept home Bayern’s sixth.
The hosts were simply toying with Darmstadt at this point and when Jamal Musiala added seventh, it certainly wasn’t a surprise.
That wasn’t the end of Bayern’s goalscoring endeavours either, as they added an eighth in the closing minutes when Kane rounded off his hat-trick to bring the curtain down on what was an incredible afternoon’s football in Munich.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich)
