File picture of Bayern Munich's Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa (L) and Bayern Munich's German midfielder Leon Goretzka celebrate the 1-3 during the German first division Bundesliga football match VfB Stuttgart v FC Bayern Munich in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, on November 28, 2020. (Photo by Thomas KIENZLE / various sources / AFP)
FC Bayern Munich retained top spot in the Bundesliga after recording a come from behind 3-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Saturday.
Stuttgart took a shock lead inside the opening minutes as Tanguy Coulibaly got on the end of a precise 1 Silas Wamangituka Fundu cross to slot home past the Bayern goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer.
As expected, Bayern stirred from hibernation and were promptly back on level terms with Kingsley Coman rifling home a powerful right-footed shot from just inside the box.
Shortly afterwards, Philipp Foerster thought he’d given the hosts the lead for the second time on the day but his effort was chalked off by the VAR for a foul on Neuer.
Robert Lewandowski then put Bayern in front for the first time with an amazing strike from outside the box on the stroke of half time.
Lewandowski has scored 70 goals in 61 appearances for Bayern Munich in all competitions since the start of last season, 24 goals ahead of the next highest scorers in Europe’s top 5 leagues (Ciro Immobile & Cristiano Ronaldo, both 46).
Douglas Costa added a late third to complete an excellent day in the office for the Bavarians.
Bayern’s closest rivals, Borussia Dortmund lost valuable ground in the title race as they suffered a surprise 1-2 to FC Köln at the Signal Iduna Park.
Ellyes Skhiri was the hero for the visitors as his double rendered Thorgan Hazard’s effort to represent nothing more than scant consolation.
RasenBallsport Leipzig moved up to second with a 2-1 victory Arminia Bielefeld with Angelino and Christopher Nkunku netting for the hosts either side of halftime at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzing.
The season’s surprise package, Union Berlin failed to keep pace with frontrunners as they drew 3-3 at home with Eintracht Frankfurt just as Augsburg and Freiburg shared points in a 1-1 draw at WWK Arena.
Schalke remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the standings after they suffered a 1-3 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Florian Neuhaus, Oscar Wendt, Marcus Thuram and Hannes Wolf all netted for the hosts who won at a canter at Borussia to move up to seventh.
Results
Augsburg 1-1 Freiburg
RasenBallsport Leipzig 2-1 Arminia Bielefeld
Union Berlin 3-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
VfB Stuttgart 1-3 Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund 1-2 FC Köln
Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-1 Schalke 04
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