Two second half goals in less than three minutes from Serge Gnabry and one from Robert Lewandowski earned Bayern Munich a thumping 3-0 victory at Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League fixture.
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The last 16 first leg game on Tuesday in London saw the German champions sharper and livelier than their hosts, and they piled on the pressure from the start of the match.
The stats showed they enjoyed 63 per cent possession, and it was a bad night for Chelsea, whose home form under Frank Lampard has been suspect all season.
Their misery was complete in the 83rd minute when wing back Marcos Alonso was sent off for violent conduct after he caught Lewandowski in the face with his arm.
For former Arsenal forward Gnabry, his goals on Tuesday were his fifth and sixth in London in the Champions League this season.
He scored four in Bayern Munich’s 7-2 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur in the group stages.
The first against Chelsea in the 51st minute involved a one-two between Gnabry and Lewandowski.
The prolific Pole cut back from the edge of the area when Chelsea’s retreating defence expected him to shoot, and it left Gnabry with an easy finish from less than 10 metres.
Chelsea, run ragged most of the evening, had barely got their breath back when Lewandowski and Gnabry exchanged passes halfway down the pitch before Gnabry raced away to score.
Lewandowski, clearly enjoying himself, got among the scorers in the 76th minute after a stirring run from Canadian full back Alphonso Davies.
The Germans had also wasted a series of chances in the first half.
Thomas Mueller, one of three players who figured in Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League final victory over Bayern in Munich, went closest in the 35th minute.
He thumped the bar with a header from another Lewandowski cross.
Tuesday’s win will prove a measure of revenge for that unlikely Chelsea victory.
The Germans will feel fully confident of progressing when they welcome the London side for the second leg on March 18.
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