In a battle between two of the great strikers in world football, Bayern Munich’s talisman Robert Lewandowski came out on top, scoring a fantastic hattrick to help his side conquer rivals Borussia Dortmund, 4-2.
Robert Lewandowski. Photo: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Erling Haaland scored a rapid brace within the first ten minutes for Edin Terzic’s BVB side, who progressed to the Semi Finals of the DFB Pokal during the week. The Norwegian found the net within two minutes after his shot was deflected in, before doubling the lead by finishing off an impressive team move.
Leroy Sane looked to kickstart the comeback, driving into the box and beating Nico Schulz before crossing for Lewandowski to tap in. Sane’s wing partner Kingsley Coman won a penalty just before half-time, with the foul committed by Mo Dahoud.
Lewandowski made no mistake from the spot. The score was level at the break, but Bayern had the momentum, and were firm favourites after Haaland was forced off through injury.
It was not until the 88th minute that Hansi Flick’s side took the lead, with Leon Goretzka firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Lewandowski grabbed his third goal to put the icing on the cake for Bayern, scoring from the edge of the box to put the champions back in the driving seat of the title race.
Elsewhere:
The pressure was on Bayern with the in-form RB Leipzig picking up another win, dispatching Freiburg 3-0 thanks to goals from Christopher Nkunku, Alexander Sorloth and Emil Forsberg. Third-place Wolfsburg, however, lost 2-1 away at Hoffenheim.
A single Patrik Schick goal was enough for Leverkusen to pick up a vital win away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, whilst fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 with Stuttgart, with Sasa Kalajdzic getting on the scoresheet again for the mid-table side.
Hertha Berlin finally picked up a win to arrest their terrible run of form, moving three points clear of the relegation-zone, beating Augsburg 2-1. Fellow relegation battlers Schalke and Mainz played out a goalless affair on Friday night.
Game of the week: