Canada’s Alphonso Davies rose to the circumstance on Saturday as the sports world remained focused on the German Bundesliga.
Davies, from Edmonton, scored and set up another goal in Bayern Munich’s 5-2 triumph over Eintract Frankfurt. The Bundesliga is playing in empty stadiums with no audiences due to strict hygiene measures against the coronavirus.
Goals from Leon Goretzka, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski had Bayern in cruise control but Frankfurt defender Martin Hinteregger scored twice in three minutes to set up an exciting finale. Davies steadied Bayern’s nerves before Hinteregger’s own goal capped a remarkable game for the centre back.
“It was one of the nicest own goals I scored,” Hinteregger joked.
19-year-old Alphonso Davies from Edmonton records a goal and an assist in Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich’s 5-2 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bayern’s rival Borussia Dortmund laid down the challenge with a laboured 2-0 win at Wolfsburg earlier in the day.
The win kept Bayern four points ahead of Dortmund heading into their meeting on Tuesday, a match that will go a long way to deciding the championship — assuming the remaining seven rounds go ahead.
The league resumed last weekend after its pandemic-induced two-month break and players must undergo regular testing for COVID-19 before they are cleared to play.
Like last weekend, players wore face masks on arrival for all games on Saturday, while those who didn’t start kept them on and maintained their distance. Balls were disinfected, and officials conducted pre-game interviews at a distance with microphones mounted on poles to keep TV reporters at bay.
The German football federation (DFB) sent a letter to the clubs during the week warning them that society and politicians were watching closely after some criticism of goal celebrations that went too far the previous weekend.
