ARMINIA BIELEFELD 0-3 BAYERN MUNICH; BAYERN BOOST TITLE HOPES BY STRETCHING POINTS.
Reigning champions Bayern Munich have put themselves in prime position to win their tenth successive Bundesliga title, after overcoming Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 to bag a fourth straight league win at the SchücoArena in a mainly one-sided clash.
Looking to put their shock UEFA Champions League exit behind them, and prepare for a looming Klassiker showdown with their only remaining title rivals Dortmund in ideal fashion, Bayern Munich had the perfect opportunity to get back on track. An Arminia Bielefeld side that were winless in their last six Bundesliga games represented the perfect opposition, and unsurprisingly, Bayern started on the front foot, with their top-scorer Robert Lewandowski coming close to adding to his 32 Bundesliga goals this season, but being amazingly denied on the line by Stefan Ortega.
Lewandowski was involved moments later as Bayern inevitably took the lead. The Polish striker got on the end of Alphonso Davies’ cross, turning it in off Jacob Barrett Laursen for an unfortunate own goal. Bielefeld responded well to going behind, with chances for the pacey Patrick Wimmer and Masaya Okugawa narrowly going wide of the woodwork.
Okugawa also got on the end of a hopeful long ball to poke the ball over Manuel Neuer and into the net, but luckily for Bayern, it was ruled out for offside. Serge Gnabry then thought it was his turn to have a goal ruled out after seeing his effort disallowed for offside, but after a VAR review, the goal was given to make it 2-0 right on the stroke of HT.
To the hosts’ credit, they started the brighter of the two sides after the restart, and missed a string of chances – especially Amos Pieper, who was guilty of missing Bielefeld’s best chances. For a side that had conceded the fewest amount of goals in the Bundesliga this season, Bayern’s defence looked uncharastically disjointed, allowing Wimmer to consistently run in behind. However, Jamal Musiala sealed all three points for the visitors, capping off a stunning counter attack by getting on the end of Lewandowski’s cross to poke home for 3-0.
The loss for Bielefeld leaves them in a perilous position, sitting four points from safety with only four games remaining. As for Bayern, history now beckons, and all eyes will be on the Allianz Arena in the next Bundesliga round, as ‘Die Roten’ look to make it a perfect decade as the kings of Germany.
