Bayern beats Union 5-1 with Real Madrid in mind and Cologne heading toward relegation

BERLIN (AP) — Harry Kane scored again and Bayern Munich tuned up for its Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid with a comfortable 5-1 win at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Kane raised his Bundesliga tally to 33 goals in 30 appearances, while fellow forwards Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Mathys Tel had rare starts as Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel made six changes from the team that sealed Champions League progress with a 1-0 win over Arsenal on Wednesday.

Kane also set up Tel to score Bayern’s fourth goal. Thomas Müller scored twice after Leon Goretzka got the scoring underway.

“They were very effective, I have to say. Their first five shots were five goals,” said Union coach Nenad Bjelica, whose team failed to score in its previous three games.

Union fans sang louder with every goal against their side until substitute Yorbe Vertessen finally ended the team's scoring drought in stoppage time. It didn’t stop Union dropping to 14th in the 18-team league, just three points above the relegation zone.

After Bayer Leverkusen clinched the title last weekend, Bayern’s only hope of a trophy this season remains the Champions League. Tuchel left out Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala from the squad altogether with a view toward Madrid’s trip to Munich for the first leg of their semifinal on April 29.

COLOGNE FACING DROP

Cologne’s hopes of survival were dealt a major blow after losing 2-0 at home to last-placed Darmstadt, the visitor's first win since October.

Darmstadt defender Christoph Klarer scored in the 57th minute when the ball landed luringly at his feet after Cologne defenders failed to clear a corner.

Some Cologne fans were left in tears after Oscar Vilhelmsson sealed Darmstadt’s win in the final minute, bringing Cologne’s seventh relegation from the Bundesliga a step closer.

Cologne remained second from bottom, four points behind in-form Mainz before its game at Freiburg on Sunday, and five behind Bochum, which lost in Wolfsburg 1-0.

Darmstadt remained last but its supporters celebrated the end of their team’s 22-game winless run. Darmstadt hadn’t won since Oct. 7.

Four rounds remain after this weekend. The bottom two are automatically relegated, while the team that finishes third from bottom faces a two-leg playoff against the third-place finisher in the second division to determine which side plays in the Bundesliga next season.

Leipzig consolidated fourth place and boosted its chances of Champions League qualification with a 2-1 win at Heidenheim, and Anton Stach had the final say in a wild finish as Hoffenheim defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-3.

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Bayern's Mathys Tel celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayer Munich supported high flares during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates with his teammate Leon Goretzka after scoring his side's third goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates with his teammate Leon Goretzka after scoring his side's third goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Union's goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow saves during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates after scoring his side's fifth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates with his teammate Harry Kane after scoring his side's fifth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Mathys Tel celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern Munich fans set off smoke bombs during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates after scoring his side's fifth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Bayern's Thomas Mueller celebrates with his teammate Leon Goretzka after scoring his side's fifth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Union Berlin and Bayern Munich at the An der Alten Forsterei stadium in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, April 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Hoffenheim's Anton Stach, right, celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach at PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday April 20, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Hoffenheim's Anton Stach celebrates scoring their side's fourth goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach at PreZero Arena in Sinsheim, Germany, Saturday April 20, 2024. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Cologne's Faride Alidou, right, and Darmstadt's Matthias Bader fight for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Darmstadt and FC Cologne at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, Saturday April 20, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Darmstadt's Christoph Klarer, center, celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Darmstadt and FC Cologne at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, Saturday April 20, 2024. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches.

The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals that have been embedded throughout the laws and social teachings of the United Methodist Church over the previous half-century.

The 447-233 vote by the UMC's General Conference came one day after delegates overwhelmingly voted to repeal a 52-year-old declaration that the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching” and two days after they repealed the denomination's ban on LGBTQ clergy.

It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that featured its most progressive slate of delegates in memory following the departure of more than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States because it essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

The delegates voted to repeal a section in their Book of Discipline, or church law, that states: “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.”

Clergy will neither be required nor prohibited from performing any marriage, according to existing law that the conference affirmed with minor revisions Friday.

On Thursday, delegates approved Revised Social Principles, or statements of the church's values. In addition to removing the language about homosexuality being “incompatible with Christian teaching," that revision also defined marriage as a covenant between two adults, without limiting it to heterosexual couples, as the previous version had done.

But while Social Principles are non-binding, the clause removed on Friday had the force of law.

Regional conferences outside the United States have the ability to set their own rules, however, so churches in Africa and elsewhere with more conservative views on sexuality could retain bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy. A pending amendment to the church constitution would also enable the U.S. region to make such adaptations.

The change doesn’t mandate or even explicitly affirm same-sex marriages. But it removes their prohibition. It takes effect Saturday following the close of General Conference.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

United Methodist delegates listen to a debate during their General Conference meeting Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Peter Smith)

The Rev. David Meredith, left, and the Rev. Austin Adkinson sing during a gathering of those in the LGBTQ community and their allies outside the Charlotte Convention Center, in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, May 2, 2024. They were celebrating after the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to remove the denomination's 52-year-old social teaching that deemed homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." (AP Photo/Peter Smith)