When football hit the pause button in March, Bundesliga defenders had already been granted a break of sorts. Robert Lewandowski was injured, missing Bayern Munich’s previous three games and sparing opponents a trial by Europe’s most potent striker.
As Bayern returned to action, a fit-again Lewandowski returned to the scoresheet. It was utterly unsurprising, but a landmark goal means he is on course for the most productive season of even his extraordinary career. The Pole is closing in on 500 goals for clubs and country and he aided Bayern in their pursuit of an eighth straight Bundesliga title. Strikes by him and Benjamin Pavard restored their four-point lead over Borussia Dortmund and gave them an 11th win in 12 games as their resurgence under Hansi Flick continued.
The manager may be relatively new but the scorer stays the same. Lewandowski’s nonchalant penalty meant that he brought up 40 goals for a fifth successive season. Lionel Messi has reached the milestone in the previous 10 campaigns, but Lewandowski is alone in Europe’s elite leagues in registering 40 this year. He may yet threaten Gerd Muller’s 48-year-old record of 40 in a Bundesliga season.
They received some assistance in their title bid from a former Dortmund player. Neven Subotic was a Bundesliga winner under Jurgen Klopp but a veteran of battles with Bayern gifted them the lead. The Serbian was seemingly unaware that Leon Goretzka was coming as he swiped at the ball and upended the midfielder. With a hop, a skip and a sidefooted shot, Lewandowski beat his fellow Pole Rafal Gikiewicz from 12 yards.
Briefly, it appeared Thomas Muller had broken the deadlock earlier, though he was ruled offside as he tapped in Serge Gnabry’s header. Union had appealed and Bayern barely celebrated but such incidents will normally generate plenty of background noise. Instead, there was a certain eerie stillness as everyone paused and waited for VAR to adjudicate. It was close but the penalty was an altogether easier decision.
Bayern were not at their best but still exuded control. Their previous away game was a 6-0 thrashing of Hoffenheim but a repeat was never likely. Yet they showed their solidity and were troubled only occasionally by Anthony Ujah’s speed. The Nigerian rifled an early shot wide but while Manuel Neuer made a late save from Felix Kroos, he has had busier afternoons.
The league leaders dominated possession. Goretzka was inches from adding a second goal, whistling a deflected shot wide just after half-time. Goretzka wandered infield intelligently and influentially from the flank, allowing Bayern numerical domination in the middle, while that afforded room for their overlapping full-backs. Alphonso Davies showed glimpses of his scorching pace and delivered a couple of menacing crosses. On the other wing, Pavard was outstanding, breaking forward well from right-back. The Frenchman had threatened with a shot and a header before eventually the World Cup winner did find the net, heading in Joshua Kimmich’s corner, after Bayern’s pressure told. In the previous three minutes, a sliding Gnabry was inches away from turning in the substitute Kingsley Coman’s low centre and was then denied a second by Gikiewicz.
Bayern were without Philippe Coutinho, who has undergone ankle surgery, though it would be a stretch to say they missed the on-loan Brazilian. A more prominent absentee was the Union manager Urs Fischer. He had left their quarantined camp after his father-in-law died in Switzerland and, while he has returned, needs to test negative for Covid-19 twice before he can link up with his players again so Markus Hoffmann took charge in the technical area. Also missing, until the final 20 minutes, was Union’s top scorer Sebastian Andersson, who was surprisingly benched for three-quarters of the game. Union are scarcely prolific even with the Swede and were nullified without him. When he and Christian Gentner came on, Union had more of a presence.
This should have been a landmark day for supporters in the German capital. It was the first time Union hosted Bayern in the Bundesliga; their fans may have to wait another year to see Germany’s most successful club in person. At least, after an encouraging maiden season at this level, the promoted club are on course to secure a second. First, however, they have Friday’s Berlin derby to savour.
