BERLIN: Robert Lewandowski was on the scoresheet and Lucas Hernandez made his club debut as Bayern Munich eased into the second round of the German Cup with a 3-1 win over fourth-tier side Energie Cottbus on Monday. Amid pre-match fears of a double-figure scoreline, Cottbus proved their doubters wrong by holding Bayern off for half an hour before Lewandowski opened the scoring from close range. Lewandowski and Kingsley Coman both hit the bar before half-time, but it wasn’t until the 65th minute that Coman doubled the lead with a fizzing long-range effort.
Lewandowski then deflected in Leon Goretzka’s shot six minutes from time to complete a comfortable win for Bayern, who have not lost in the first-round of the competition since 1994. There was just time for club record signing Hernandez to come off the bench to make his competitive debut and for Berkan Taz to score a consolation penalty for the hosts.
“My team played well today. I would have liked to bring Hernandez on earlier than the 89th minute, but he has a long injury behind him,” coach Niko Kovac told Sky. Kovac also all but confirmed the arrival of Croatia winger Ivan Perisic on loan from Inter Milan ahead of the game, telling ARD that he “assumed” the transfer would go ahead. – AFP
