João Cancelo needed little time to make an impact for Bayern Munich as he helped his new team reach the quarterfinals of the German Cup with a 4-0 win at Mainz on Wednesday. (More Football news)
The Portugal left back started on the right wing one day after joining on loan from Manchester City and he set up Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to open the scoring in the 17th minute.
It was Bayern’s first win of 2023 after re-starting the Bundesliga with three draws and the first time since 2020 the Bavarian powerhouse reached the German Cup quarterfinals.
Cancelo made the most of some passive defending from Mainz as he lofted a cross to the far post for Choupo-Moting, then Thomas Müller set up Jamal Musiala to shoot in off the right post in the 30th.
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Joshua Kimmich struck the post with a free kick and Matthijs de Ligt missed another good chance as Bayern maintained its dominance.
It got worse for Mainz before the break when captain Silvan Widmer had to go off injured and Choupo-Moting set up Leroy Sané to score.
Mainz improved drastically for the second, but the visitors withstood the pressure and Kimmich delivered a free kick for Alphonso Davies to complete the scoring with a header in the 83rd.
Mainz coach Bo Svensson had been sent off just before Davies’ goal. Referee Deniz Aytekin said after the game that Svensson had asked the fourth official if they were all blind.
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Mainz defender Alexander Hack followed with his second yellow card in the 86th.
Bayern visits Paris Saint-Germain for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Feb. 14.
Musiala limped off at the break but emerged to finish the game. Both de Ligt and Dutch compatriot Ryan Gravenberch needed attention after strong collisions in the second half. Both continued.
Defending champion Leipzig earlier defeated Hoffenheim 3-1 to progress. Union Berlin and Stuttgart booked their quarterfinal places on Tuesday. There are more third-round games next week.
