Luis Díaz starred as Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday, stretching their Bundesliga lead to 14 points over second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
With Harry Kane sidelined through injury, Nicolas Jackson was handed a rare start as Bayern’s centre-forward, one of seven changes made from last weekend’s Der Klassiker triumph over Dortmund.
However, it was Colombian Díaz who stole the show. He opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a thunderous volley and later set up Konrad Laimer’s goal with a clever assist 12 minutes later to put Bayern 2-0 up.
The visitors’ task became even easier when Rocco Reitz was shown a red card for a dangerous challenge on Jackson just 10 minutes into the second half.
Bayern capitalized from the spot as Jamal Musiala converted the penalty for his first goal of the season.
Jackson then marked his return with a fourth goal 11 minutes from time, sealing a comprehensive win.
Gladbach managed a late consolation through 17-year-old Wael Mohya, who became the club’s youngest-ever scorer.
Bayern’s only minor concern was the halftime withdrawal of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who had returned after missing two games due to injury.
The severity of his issue is yet to be confirmed.
The defeat leaves Gladbach in 12th place with 25 points, just three above the relegation zone.
