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54 54 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2015 FOOTBALL Rampant Bayern cruise past Hertha to go 11 points clear UNBEATEN Bundesliga lead- ers Bayern Munich opened up an 11-point gap at the top after goals from Thomas Mueller and Kings- ley Coman eased them past Hertha Berlin 2-0 on Saturday, their 13th win in 14 league games. The champions, looking for a record fourth straight Bundesliga title, are on 40 points and, with three games left, will go into next month's winter break in top spot if second-placed Borussia Dortmund, on 29, fail to beat VfB Stuttgart on Sunday. A day after reporting record prof- its, Bayern were equally sparkling on the pitch, looking fresh after their midweek 4-0 mauling of Ol- ympiakos in the Champions League and despite key injury absences including Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa, David Alaba, Mario Goetze and Thiago Alcantara. Coach Pep Guardiola fielded his 14th different starting eleven in 14 league games this season but they were dominant from the start, strik- ing twice late in the first half with Mueller nodding in from a Medhi Benatia header in the 34th minute to take his league goal tally to 13 in 14 matches. Frenchman Coman added an- other four minutes before halftime and Poland striker Robert Lewand- owski, who hit the woodwork in the first half, had a golden chance in the 53rd, having been left unmarked in front of goal but was betrayed by his poor first touch. Bayern's domination can be gauged by the fact they enjoyed more than 70 percent possession and had 24 shots on goal to Hertha's four. "The team deserves a big compli- ment because we had a lot of injured players," Guardiola said. "We only allowed them one chance in the entire game. We did it really well in the first half. I know how difficult it is to be ready every three days." U.S. international Fabian Johnson scored twice, including a superb 87th minute equaliser after a fine run to rescue a 3-3 draw for Borus- sia Moenchengladbach against Hof- fenheim and maintain coach Andre Schubert's unbeaten run after nine games. Gladbach are fourth on 23, one point behind VfL Wolfsburg, who take on Augsburg on Sunday. Hamburg SV won 3-1 at Werder Bremen in their northern derby to climb up to sixth on 21. The visitors were two up midway through the first half before Wer- der's Anthony Ujah pulled a goal back after the break and Nicolai Mueller sealed Hamburg's victory in the 68th minute. Struggling Hanover 96 crushed promoted Ingolstadt 4-0, firing in three goals in the opening 24 min- utes for their first win in three league games while Eintracht Frankfurt had striker Alexander Meier sent off in a 2-1 defeat by Mainz 05. Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman celebrates the second goal against Hertha Berlin with Thomas Mueller Liverpool FA Cup hero Byrne dies at 77 The former Liverpool and England defender Gerry Byrne has died at the age of 77 FORMER England defender Gerry Byrne, who won two league titles with Liverpool and played with a broken col- larbone when they won the FA Cup for the first time in 1965, has died aged 77, the club an- nounced on Saturday. Byrne made 333 appearanc- es for Liverpool who won the league title in 1964 and 1966 and he also gained an FA Cup winners' medal in 1965 when Liverpool beat Leeds United 2-1. Despite breaking his collar- bone in the third minute of the match in the last season before substitutes were al- lowed in England, he played on and made the cross for Liverpool 's first goal. "The Liverpool-born de- fender was a model of con- sistency at left-back under Bill Shankly and a testament to his popularity was evident as 40,000 supporters were at Anfield for his testimonial in April 1970," Liverpool said on their website (w w w.liver- poolfc.com). He was a non-playing mem- ber of England 's World Cup winning squad in 1966 and was presented with a winners' medal at Downing Street in 2009 after a change of FIFA policy. He won two England caps. Gerry Byrne