Bayern rounded off a hugely successful Oktoberfest period by maintaining their record-breaking start to the Bundesliga season on Sunday with a comprehensive 5-1 victory in Der Klassiker against arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, inflicting a first defeat of the campaign on the side in second and stretching the gap between the clubs in the table to seven points.
The 75,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw BVB start brightly but FCB take the lead through Thomas Müller after 26 minutes. The Germany striker doubled the advantage from the spot on 35 minutes, and although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back before half-time, on-fire Robert Lewandowski restored the two-goal lead 22 seconds into the second period and took his total in the last three matches to an extraordinary nine with his team’s fourth just short of the hour. Mario Götze added the fifth after 66 minutes to round off a classy team display.
An eighth win in eight matches means the Reds consolidate their grip on top spot with the maximum 24 points, seven clear of Dortmund on 17 and eight ahead of Schalke in third. The league now takes a two-week break for internationals before Munich return to action away to Werder Bremen Zagreb on Saturday 17 October.
THREE NEW FACES FOR FCB
Bayern boss Pep Guardiola made three changes to the team that easily beat Dinamo Zagreb 5-0 in the midweek Champions League fixture with Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso and Müller taking over from Juan Bernat, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman.
The league leaders lined up with Manual Neuer in goal, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Martinez and captain Philipp Lahm in defence, Alonso and Thiago in central midfield, and Mario Götze, Müller, Lewandowski and Douglas Costa up front.
Thomas Tuchel sent out his Dortmund side with Sven Bender alongside former Munich youth Mats Hummels at centre-back and danger man Aubameyang as the lone striker, with Marco Reus kept in reserve at the start.
REDS AHEAD AT THE BREAK
After referee Marco Fritz whistled play underway, the visitors made a real fist of it in the early exchanges with half the possession and a couple of dangerous moves, Ilkay Gündogan firing a free-kick into the defensive wall and Thiago making a timely interception when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scampered down the inside-left channel.
Some 18 minutes had been played before Alonso loosed off the home side’s first meaningful shot at goal, before Costa drew a good save from BVB keeper Roman Bürki with a trademark near-post drive six minutes later.
Somewhat out of the blue the Reds took a 26th-minute lead when Müller brilliantly controlled Boateng’s raking long ball from defence, the striker using his first touch to round the onrushing Bürki before slotting home. Guardiola’s men hit the gas now and Müller made it two from the spot after 35 minutes following Mkhitaryan’s clear foul on Thiago.
However, Tuchel’s side sought and found a quick response when Mkhitaryan and Gonzalo Castro combined to send in Aubameyang at the back post, the Gabon hitman making it 2-1 in the 37th minute, with no further goals before the break.
LEWY’S STREAK CONTINUES
The second half was only 22 seconds old when Boateng launched another superb defence-splitting pass, this time for Lewandowski. The Pole coolly guided the ball past Bürki and crashed home his side’s third from close range.
The home side clearly had the upper hand now, with Götze guilty of a glaring miss on 55 minutes when the former BVB player scooped the ball over the empty net with Bürki stranded in no-man’s land. Lewandowski showed no such mercy to his former club just before the hour mark with a clinical finish from Götze’s inch-perfect cross, taking the Pole onto a record nine goals in his last three league matches.
The champions were unstoppable now and Götze atoned for his earlier miss with the fifth after 66 minutes, a crisp low drive from 12 yards following superb persistence in possession by Thiago. The Spaniard now gave way to Vidal, and Neuer was now called into action against Mkhitaryan, with Kimmich replacing Alonso for the last quarter of an hour. Neuer saved well from BVB sub Adnan Januzaj’s direct free-kick, before Coman took over from Müller for the closing stages. Vidal and Lewandowski were denied by last-ditch tackles as the home team closed out an excellent victory.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
