Bayern rout Cologne

Bayern Munich midfielder David Alaba celebrates his goal with teammate Mario Gomez during their Bundesliga match against Cologne in Munich on Friday.Photo: AFP

Ten-man Bayern Munich ensured it would be cheery festive season in Bavaria with a 3-0 rout of visiting FC Cologne which took their lead over Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund to six points.
On Bayern's final league game ahead of the winter break the hosts were stunned when influential midfielder Frank Ribery was sent off after 33 minutes after being shown two yellow cards in the space of a minute.
However that failed to faze Jupp Heynckes' league leaders, who finished the first half with a flurry and took an early lead in the second as Mario Gomez claimed his 16th goal in 16 league games.
Cologne, who have been battling to get out of the bottom half of the table, were struggling to make the advantage count and their defence was found wanting when second half substitute David Alaba doubled Bayern's lead just after the hour mark.
Midfielder Toni Kroos made it three in the dying minutes as unconvincing Cologne's defence fell apart.
Billed as a contest between Gomez and Lukas Podolski, the Cologne striker who is attracting interest from Premier League side Arsenal among others, it was the former who snatched the bragging rights.
Neither team had produced solid goalscoring chances in the opening half, in which Ribery provided the best drama after the volatile Frenchman was sent off for two altercations with Portuguese defender Henrique Sereno.
But after the interval, and in spite of their numerical disadvantage Bayern came out flying.
The Cologne defence was nowhere to be seen when Thomas Mueller -- who had missed a great chance to open the scoring moments earlier -- latched on to a deep cross on the right flank.