Bayern Munich has revanched itself on Saturday afternoon for two league matches from loss of points. The leader of the Bundesliga won with great conviction against 1. FC Köln. Robert Lewandowski made two and is already on 28 league goals after 23 rounds. With that, the Polish striker is well on his way to shooting Gerd Müller’s goal record (40 in the 1971/72 season) from the books. Furthermore, number three VfL Wolfsburg won from Hertha BSC (2-0) and Borussia Dortmund will again compete for the Champions League tickets after the victory over Arminia Bielefeld (3-0). BVB is now fifth, three points behind number four Eintracht Frankfurt. Schalke 04 received a huge beating from VfB Stutgart (5-1). The players of the bottom of the league previously revolted against trainer Christian Gross.
Bayern Munich – 1. FC Köln 5-1
Bayern saw Leroy Sané just wide of aim in the opening phase, but took the lead in the eighteenth minute. Leon Goretzka put the ball from the right edge of the box towards the far post, where Maxim Choupo-Moting headed in: 1-0. Lewandowski then missed a free header opportunity, but managed to score after half an hour. Goretzka intercepted a weak pass in the build-up of Köln, played his opponent through his legs and offered Lewandowski a hard-to-miss shooting opportunity from within the box: 2-0.
Köln was unable to fire a shot on goal in the first half, yet the visitors surprisingly came back into the game four minutes after the break. A misunderstanding between Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba led to Ellyes Skhiri being able to intercept the ball. The Tunisian midfielder avoided a tackle from Alaba and outplayed Manuel Neuer with a subtle lob: 2-1. Bayern’s lead was not jeopardized for a moment and in the 65th minute the home team reduced the margin to two. Thomas Müller passed the ball through the middle to Lewandowski, who suddenly hit the ball: 3-1. Two more goals were scored in the final phase. Lewandowski was just unable to reach a pass from Lucas Hernández, but substitute Serge Gnabry slid in the low pass at the far post: 4-1. Gnabry also signed for the 5-1, by heading a cross from Goretzka in at the far post.
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Arminia Bielefeld
From the first whistle, Dortmund took the initiative in the duel with Arminia Bielefeld. Mats Hummels saw a shot narrowly blocked and Marco Reus hit the bar from a rebound after half an hour of play. Giovanni Reyna also failed to find the net and shot close to the right post. Except for a shot from Sergio Córdova, Bielefeld did not offer much in return. In the second half, the home team quickly took the lead when Jadon Sancho created the threat from the left and put the ball wide on Mahmoud Dahoud. It was then a breeze for the Dortmund midfielder to hit from the edge of the box: 1-0. The score was doubled after an hour of play by Sancho, who was allowed to build from eleven meters after a foul by Amos Pieper on Reus: 2-0. Trainer Uwe Neuhaus then brought Michel Vlap within the lines, but had to see how Dortmund was accurate for the third time. Dortmund came out very quickly, after which Erling Braut Haaland gave the chance to Reinir Jesus Carvalho, who was able to tap in from close range: 3-0.
VfB Stuttgart – Schalke 04 5-1
It were the standard situations that killed Schalke against Stuttgart on Saturday afternoon. After ten minutes of play, it was the first time on behalf of the home team, when Wataru Endo was easily able to tap in from close range after a corner from Borno Sosa. After half an hour of play, the same Endo was again at the end of a corner from the home team. This time came the preparatory work from Gonzalo Castro. The captain saw how nobody touched his cross and could be tapped in by the Japanese at the second pal: 2-0. As if that were not enough, Sasa Kalajdzic once again signed from a standard situation for the third goal on behalf of Stuttgart after more than half an hour of play. A corner from Castro was again brought in front of the goal by Sosa, after which Sasa Kalajdzic was the most attentive and headed diagonally: 3-0.
Schalke, who still does not have access to the injured Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, was nowhere to be seen until that moment, but fought back into the game five minutes before half time. A failed pass by Benjamin Stambouli accidentally fell at the feet of Sead Kolasinac, who hit the far corner with the inside of his foot: 3-1. Nabil Bentaleb got the chance to shoot Schalke all the way back into the game twenty minutes before the end, but hopelessly failed from eleven yards after a foul by Endo. His bet was taken by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. On the other hand, Stuttgart ended the game, when Philipp Klement made a nice hit from the edge of the sixteen on a pass from Endo. The final chord was just as beautiful. Daniel Didavi tried from a distance and found the top left corner with a beautiful shot: 5-1.
VfL Wolfsburg – Hertha BSC 2-0
Wolfsburg has an excellent run in the Bundesliga and remained unbeaten in the last eight games. The team of coach Oliver Glasner also took control against Hertha, although it had to watch how the visitors created the first danger. Lucas Tousart started from the edge of the box, but saw his shot go just over the bar. Wout Weghorst then seemed to break the spell on behalf of Wolfsburg, but saw his goal being disallowed halfway through the first half due to offside. On the stroke of half time it was hit. Weghorst was wanted and was ready to finish, but did not have to take action because Lukas Klünter unluckily worked the ball behind his own goalkeeper: 0-1.
Deyovaisio Zeefuik, who started in the base just like Weghorst, was close to the equalizer on behalf of Hertha after an hour of play, but the rebound of the defender was narrowly caught by Koen Casteels. When referee Bastian Dankert pointed to the spot in the final phase after a foul by Ridle Baku, the team from Berlin seemed to come alongside, but the referee came back from his decision after studying the images. Maxence Lacroix then carried out the verdict on behalf of Wolfsburg, by hitting a header from a corner kick by Maximilian Arnold in the absolute final phase: 2-0. Wolfsburg ended the game with ten men, when Marin Pongracic got his second yellow card in injury time.