Robert Lewandowski's dream run continues as Bayern Munich beat Augsburg 3-1
Augsburg’s dismal run in the Bundesliga continued as they remained winless in their fourth consecutive game, losing 3-1 to Bayern Munich in the Bavarian derby. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller saw Pep Guardiola’s side claim all three points
Guardiola made a few changes to the side that beat Vfl Bochum 3-0 in the DFB-Pokal. Juan Bernat came in for the injured Holger Badstuber after the German centre-back broke his ankle in training a day earlier while Arturo Vidal returned to the starting lineup while Xabi Alonso served a suspension.
It was all Bayern in the early stages of the first half as Philipp Lahm and Thiago Alcántara came close to opening the scoring. Both shots were taken from outside the box with Lahm’s low shot saved while Alcantara’s shot was off target and just went over the crossbar.
However, Augsburg were only delaying the inevitable and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Arjen Robben found Thomas Muller out on the right flank and his first-time cross was controlled in the centre of the box by Lewandowski, who turned on the spot to avoid two defenders before finding the back of the net after beating goalkeeper Marwin Hitz with a right-footed shot in the bottom left corner.
Bayern would increase the pressure in the first half but were unable to build on the early goal thanks to some resolute defending. Robben, Muller and Lewandowski had shots blocked while even Vidal tried his luck from distance.
It wasn’t until the hour mark that the second goal was scored, again by Lewandowski. This time it was Thiago Alcantara who found him with a delightful through ball from his own half. Augsburg were playing a high line and were punished as the 27-year-old striker raced through to go one-on-one with Hitz before curling it into the bottom corner.
It was his eighth goal in the calendar year and the fourth time he had scored two in a game. Bayern had only scored nine goals in 2016 till this point.
Thomas Muller would then join the party to make it 3-0 in the 78th minute. With Augsburg looking for a goal, they had committed too many men in attack and Douglas Costa made use of the ample space in their half to race down the left wing before delivering a low cross into the box. A mess up from Hitz in the clearance saw the ball fall back to Costa who found Muller and the German forward simply side-footed the shot to make it 3-0.
Augsburg would score a consolation goal with four minutes of regulation time left through Raul Bobadilla. This time, it was Bayern who had too many players in advanced positions and Alexander Esswein set up Bobadilla who skillfully controlled the ball and turned Joshua Kimmich to beat Manuel Neuer with a low shot.
However, it was too late to mount any sort of comeback and Bayern wrapped up the tie to maintain their eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.