On Sunday night, Bayern Munich returned to winning ways with a highly entertaining 5-1 win against third-placed Hoffenheim at the Allianz Arena. In the battle between the Bundesliga’s top two offensive teams, it was Bayern’s offense that ultimately stole the show. However, the visitors could consider themselves rather unfortunate to have been reduced to ten men after just 17 minutes when center-back Kevin Akpoguma was shown a straight red for a foul on Luis Diaz. Harry Kane converted from the spot, giving Bayern the early lead.
Despite going a goal down, Hoffenheim remained confident in their own attacking prowess. Against the odds, they twice came close to an equalizer before Andre Kramaric levelled the score following a poor chipped pass from Manuel Neuer, which was intercepted by striker Fisnik Asllanni. The young forward then teed up Kramaric for a simple finish.
Bayern eventually sorted themselves out and made the one-man advantage count with two goals just before the half-time whistle and another two in the second half to bury their admirable opponents. Let’s take a look at three players who stood out for Bayern in Sunday’s victory.
Luis Diaz
After playing a part in all five of Bayern’s goals, including his first hat-trick in Bayern colors, it’s a no-brainer that Luis Diaz took home the match-ball and the man-of-the-match award.
After winning the first penalty in the 17th minute, Lucho repeated the trick in the 43rd minute for Harry Kane to once again give Bayern the lead from the spot. In the added time of the first half, Diaz went one better by scoring his first, and Bayern’s third on the night, with a neat finish at the end of a blistering counterattack.
Just after the hour mark, Diaz displayed a poacher’s instinct when he darted into the six-yard box to tap home a cross from Michael Olise for his second. With a minute left in regulation time, the 29-year-old Colombian registered his hat-trick with a superbly placed shot from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner. With a 91% pass accuracy and seven successful dribbles to go along with his hat-trick and two penalties won, Lucho was simply unstoppable on Sunday.