Javier Martinez (R) of Bayern Munich vies with Erik Thommy of Dusseldorf during a German Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Munich and Fortuna Dusseldorf in Dusseldorf, Germany, Nov. 23, 2019. (Photo by Ulrich Hufnagel/Xinhua)
BERLIN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich showed no mercy to whitewash Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-0, and Borussia Monchengladbach suffered a surprising 2-0 defeat to newly promoted Union Berlin at the 12th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.
Goals from Benjamin Pavard, Corentin Tolisso, Serge Gnabry and Philippe Coutinho were enough for the German record champions to down Dusseldorf.
Bayern needed only 11 minutes to find the back of the net as Pavard benefitted on an assist from Joshua Kimmich to break the deadlock.
The visitors remained on the front foot and pressed Dusseldorf into the defence as Robert Lewandowski and Coutinho came close.
It was just a matter of time before Bayern extended their advantage as a forced turnover allowed Tolisso to hammer home from the edge of the box with 27 minutes played.
Despite their two-goal lead Bayern remained active whereas Dusseldorf were unable to keep the defending champions on the distance.
Gnabry rattled the woodwork before he got his name on the scoreboards as well after capitalizing on Thomas Mueller's square pass moments later.
After the interval, Dusseldorf made amendments and tried to respond but for all that only Dawid Kownacki's long-range effort forced Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into action.
It remained Dusseldorf's only note worthy chance of the clash as Bayern sealed the deal in the 70th minute when Lewandowski's build-up work found Coutinho, who tapped home the fourth goal of the game.
With the victory, Bayern Munich jumped to the third place, sharing the same 24 points with second-placers Leipzig and one point adrift of front runners Monchengladbach. Dusseldorf slipped to the 14th position of the standings.
Newly promoted Union Berlin snatched an upsetting 2-0 victory over front runners Borussia Monchengladbach thanks to the goals from Anthony Ujah and Sebastian Andersson.
The "Foals" dominated the opening period and had a promising chance in the 12th minute when Patrick Herrmann's header hit the post.
Union punished Monchengladbach with the opener against the run of the game as Ujah nodded home Marcus Ingvartsen's cross to open the scoring in the 15th minute.
Monchengladbach had the golden chance to level the scores before the break but Alassane Plea was unable to beat Union goalie Rafal Gikiewicz following a one-on-one with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bundesliga front runners lacked in ideas and were unable to threaten Union Berlin's well-positioned defence.
Monchengladbach pressed relentlessly but it were the hosts who scored once again as Christian Gentners' cross allowed Andersson to put the result beyond doubt in the closing period.
With the result, Union Berlin stay on the 11th place after reaping the fourth straight win. Monchengladbach's advantage atop the standings melted to one point.
Elsewhere, Schalke extended Werder Bremen's winless run to eight games as Amine Harit and Benito Raman were on target to take all three points following a 2-1.
Wasteful Bayer Leverkusen dominated the game for most of the time but still they shared the spoils following a 1-1 draw with Freiburg, and 10-man Wolfsburg secured a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
