Bayern Munich have defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 at home to maintain their seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
© PA Photos
The Bavarian giants dominated proceedings in the opening minutes of the encounter at the Allianz Arena, and almost opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
Toni Kroos galloped down the left flank and put in a brilliant cross that Arjen Robben could only turn on to the side netting.
Sebastian Jung tried to volley home past Manuel Neuer in the 17th minute, but failed to keep his attempt on target.
A minute later Stefan Aigner tested the Bayern goalkeeper with a header from close range.
Franck Ribery neatly set up Bastian Schweinsteiger just minutes later and then he forced Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp into making a save.
The Frenchman eventually broke the deadlock a minute from the half-time interval when he latched on to Javi Martinez's well-measured pass across the box to tap home.
Kroos almost made it 2-0 moments later for Bayern, but was denied by Trapp.
Five minutes after the restart Frankfurt almost snatched the equaliser when Karim Matmour headed Alexander Meier's delivery against the crossbar.
Matmour tested Neuer again in the 56th minute, but thereafter it was all Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
Martinez and Daniel van Buyten both came close with close-range headers midway through the second half, before David Alaba scored Bayern's second goal of the afternoon in the 77th minute.
Vadim Demidov's challenge on Schweinsteiger inside the Frankfurt penalty area saw the referee point to the spot, and Alaba made no mistake from 12 yards.
Subhankar Mondal
