Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller have both scored twice as Bayern Munich banished their early-season blues with a 4-1 win over Bundesliga minnows Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday after a first half – « crazy » time
Treble-winning Bayern started the day in the middle of the table after a shock loss to Hoffenheim last month, but the victory at Bielefeld was enough to propel them to second place
The champions broke out of the blocks and saw a penalty appeal dismissed before Muller found himself in the opener at eight minutes
Lewandowski doubled the lead soon after, crushing the ball from the edge of the box after a sharp cross from Leon Goretzka
The Polish forward teamed up with Muller to make it 3-0 just before half-time and returned the favor after the break with a precise cross to prepare for Muller’s second
« The first 45 minutes were crazy, we played really well We knew the first game after the international break would be really important, » Lewandowski told Sky
Japanese winger Ritsu Doan pulled one off for Bielefeld at the break, with loaned PSV Eindhoven scoring his first Bundesliga goal since arriving in Germany this summer
Yet despite a late red card for Corentin Tolisso, Bayern were not troubled in the finals and can now look to Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Atletico Madrid
Hansi Flick’s side are now tied on points with third-placed Borussia Dortmund, who claimed a late 1-0 victory at Hoffenheim earlier on Saturday
Dortmund, who like Bayern had already lost a game this season, looked set to drop more points before Erling Haaland and Marco Reus left the bench in the second half to breathe new life into a brutal performance
Haaland, 20, took a leap forward to prepare Reus with a tap-in and snatch Dortmund’s first away win over Hoffenheim in eight years
« They’ve always made it harder for us in recent years. We didn’t have a lot of good chances in the first half and we knew we had to create more in the second half, » the scorer told Sky
Haaland was initially rested after playing three times for Norway in the previous two weeks, prompting criticism of the busy international schedule
« In Dortmund we are used to having a lot of midweek games at this point in the season The schedule is a bit busier this year so we have to take care of ourselves, » Reus said , after scoring Haaland’s square pass into the open net to score his first goal since February
Dortmund and Bayern are now one point behind league leaders RB Leipzig, who retained first place with a 2-0 victory over surprise top robbers from Augsburg
Angelino steered Leipzig into the lead at the stroke of half-time to score his second goal in two games, before Yussuf Poulsen doubled the lead with a sumptuous end in the 66 minutes
« These are the games you need to win if you want to land in the top four, » Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann told Sky
Elsewhere, Lucas Alario’s first-half header sealed a 1-0 victory for Bayer Leverkusen and extended Mainz’s miserable run, second from bottom, to four losses in four games
Promoted club Stuttgart continued their strong start to the season, with Marc-Oliver Kempf and Gonzalo Castro sacking them for a 2-0 away win over Hertha Berlin, while Werder Bremen held Freiburg to a 1-1 draw in the Southwest
Freiburg took the lead from the start thanks to Philipp Lienhart and had a second goal ruled out for offside before Niclas Fuellkrug of Bremen equalized from the penalty spot
At the end of Saturday’s game, Wolfsburg scored a fourth consecutive draw against Borussia Moenchengladbach, as Wout Weghorst struck late to undo Jonas Hofmann’s penalty in the second half
FC Bayern Munich, Arminia Bielefeld, Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller
News from the world – UA – Bundesliga: Lewandowski, doubled from the Muller net in the victory of Bayern Munich, Reus saves Dortmund
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
