Bayern Munich 4-2 Borussia Dortmund
Bayern are back at the top of the Bundesliga after winning a pulsating clash against top four chasing Borussia, and ‘you know who’ scored a hat-trick.
Bundesliga: FC Bayern vs Borussia Dortmund was Die Schwarzgelben’s chance to put a dent in Die Bayern’s title hopes, at the same time as reminding the rest of the Bundesliga just how good they can be. And they made an explosive start as Erling Braut Haaland scored twice before the hosts had settled, but Bayern had levelled by the break as Robert Lewandowski scored two of his own.
The pre-match FC Bayern vs Borussia Dortmund betting odds had the Bavarians heavily odds on and they pretty much dominated throughout, once they had recovered from BVB’s early assault., but the visitors held out until the 88th minute when Leon Goretzka and Lewandowski broke their resistance.
Red Bull’s 3-0 with Freiburg earlier in the day knocked Die Bayern off the top of the table but usual service has been restored.
Highlights of the game
In a breathless first half Borussia caught their hosts cold and it was Haaland who put the visitors in front, taking a pass from Thomas Delaney, just outside the penalty area and then firing a low shot into the corner beyond the despairing dive of Manuel Neuer.
If that stunned the champions then it was about to get worse.
With nine minutes on the clock Neuer was beaten by Haaland again, this time the big Norwegian converted a set-up by Thorgan Hazard from close range.
Here at SBOTOP we backed Bayern to take all three points and when they were 2-0 down within the first ten minutes that looked a lost cause, but the Bavarians fought back with ferocity. Marin Hitz made a smart save to stop a Lewandowski header and then when Leroy Sane met a cross from Leon Goretzka his header flew inches wide.
Goretzka then set up Lewandowski, but the Pole was marginally off target and Sane came close again after good work from Joshua Kimmich.
But the goal finally came on 26 minutes when Sane and Lewandowski combined, the former Manchester City teeing up the league top scorer to convert from close range.
The Bayern onslaught continued.
Hitz did well to save a low shot from Kingsley Coman, and when Lewandowski fired an effort over the bar, it looked like BVB might make it to the break ahead. But the visitors’ hopes disappeared when Mahmoud Dahoud tripped Coman, VAR took a look and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Lewandowski lined the spot kick up and made no mistake, hitting the bottom left corner and giving Hitz no chance.
Bayern started the second half as they had finished the first and Kimmich tested Hitz with a long range shot but, after ten minutes of Bayern pressure the game settled into a quieter phase which suited Borussia. Sane and Lewandowski continued to threaten though and they combined well again, on the hour, before the Pole fired just over the bar.
Then Serge Gnabry brought a brilliant save from Hitz when he fired a shot towards the top right corner, and then it was Gnabry again, with ten minutes remaining, who fired just wide after taking a pass from Thomas Muller.
With the clock ticking down the resolute BVB defence made blocks to deny Kimmich and Muller, and it looked like they’d made it, until Goretzka fired home on 88 minutes.
The relief among the Bavarians was visible, and with the pressure off Lewandowski completed his hat trick with a hammer blow from outside the box.
Key statistics
The FC Bayern vs Borussia Dortmund highlights from the opening half hour were more than we’d normally see in a full match as the visitors snatched an early two goal advantage before Die Bayern roared back level by the break.
At half time the stats were quite incredible.
Bayern had 14 shots and four on target, while BVB had two shots…and two goals.
While the second half didn’t live up to the excitement of the first, until the closing minutes, the pattern was largely the same as Bayern finished with 27 shots to BVB’s four and nine to three on target.
Lewandowski has a 12 goal lead at the top of the race for the Bundesliga Golden Boot; but it won’t mean a thing to him if Bayern don’t win the league.
What’s next?
We still have a title race on in Germany as Red Bull show no signs of giving up the fight any time soon.
So Bayern need to keep up the pace and they will travel to Werder Bremen with that in mind, before they continue their Champions League Round of 16 tie against Lazio, with a 4-1 lead from the first leg.
Dortmund have a second leg Champions League date with Sevilla hoping to protect their 3-2 lead from the first leg, before they continue their Bundesliga campaign at home to struggling Hertha Berlin.
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