With a 4-0 victory over Mainz on Wednesday, Joao Cancelo quickly established himself for Bayern Munich and helped his new team advance to the German Cup quarterfinals.
One day after coming on loan from Manchester City, the Portugal left back started on the right wing and assisted Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in opening the score in the 17th minute.
After resuming the Bundesliga with three draws, Bayern scored its first victory of 2023, and for the first time since 2020, the Bavarian powerhouse advanced to the German Cup quarterfinals.
When Mainz’s defending was lax, Cancelo took advantage of it by lofting a cross to Choupo-Moting at the far post. Later, Thomas Müller set up Jamal Musiala to score off the right post in the 30th minute.
As Bayern continued to dominate, Matthijs de Ligt squandered another excellent opportunity and Joshua Kimmich hit the post with a free kick.
Before halftime, Mainz’s situation worsened as captain Silvan Widmer had to leave the game due to an injury and Choupo-Moting set up Leroy Sané to score.
A free kick from Kimmich allowed Alphonso Davies to score in the 83rd with a header as the visitors held off Mainz’s dramatic second-half improvement.
Just before Davies’ goal, Bo Svensson, the coach of Mainz, received a red card. Svensson had questioned the fourth official throughout the game, according to referee Deniz Aytekin, about if they were all blind.
In the 86th minute, Mainz’s Alexander Hack received his second caution.
On February 14, Bayern travels to Paris Saint-Germain for the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League matchup.
Musiala hobbled out at halftime but returned to play the rest of the way. After hard collisions in the second half, Ryan Gravenberch of the Netherlands and de Ligt both required medical attention. Both kept going.
In order to advance, defending champion Leipzig had to defeat Hoffenheim 3-1. On Tuesday, Union Berlin and Stuttgart secured their spots in the quarterfinals. Next week features additional third-round contests.
