Lewandowski and Reus at the double as Bayern and Dortmund bounce back
Lewandowski and Reus at the double as Bayern and Dortmund bounce back
Two goals from Robert Lewandowski saw Bayern Munich maintain a six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga as both they and Borussia Dortmund bounced back from recent shock defeats with emphatic victories on Sunday.
Bayern, who lost at promoted Bochum last weekend, came from behind to beat bottom club Greuther Fuerth 4-1 thanks to a second-half brace from Lewandowski.
The win keeps the league leaders comfortably ahead of Dortmund, who returned to their brilliant best with a 6-0 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach following their Europa League defeat to Rangers in midweek.
"This was an important win for us, psychologically and in terms of the table," Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann told DAZN after his side survived a scare against Fuerth.
Bayern had around 80 percent of possession for much of the first half, but the defensive wobbles of the last week continued as Fuerth looked to unsettle them on the counter-attack.
Fuerth striker Jamie Leweling was twice denied by Sven Ulreich after breaking free of the Bayern back line, before Branimir Hrgota gave his side the lead with a deflected free-kick shortly before half-time.
Having lost Corentin Tolisso to injury midway through the first half, Bayern appeared to be facing yet another miserable afternoon.
But the champions bounced back just seconds after the restart, Lewandowski bundling the ball over the line from close range after a sharp run down the right from Serge Gnabry.
They took the lead just after the hour when Sebastian Griesbeck turned a Thomas Mueller cross into his own net to score an own goal against Bayern for the second time this season.
Fuerth refused to roll over, with Max Christiansen and Marco Meyerhoefer both hitting the post a few minutes later.
Lewandowski ended the resistance 10 minutes from time, nodding the ball in from close range after Niklas Suele had set him up with a pinpoint header across the face of goal.
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting completed the comeback with a tap-in in injury time.
- Reus on the rampage -
Meanwhile, Marco Reus inspired his side to a cathartic 6-0 win over Gladbach.
The Dortmund captain was involved in five of the six goals, scoring two himself and picking up a hat-trick of assists.
The hosts took the lead on 26 minutes when Donyell Malen forced a save from Yann Sommer and Marco Reus smashed in the rebound.
Malen doubled the lead shortly afterwards, beating Sommer in a one-on-one after slipping away from Gladbach's high defensive line.
Dortmund's US midfielder Giovanni Reyna left the pitch in tears shortly after Reus' goal with an apparent hamstring problem, but his team continued their charge after the break.
Marius Wolf smashed a brilliant shot in off the bar to make it 3-0 and 17-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko added another with a tap-in five minutes later.
Reus, who had set up both of those goals, picked up his second goal with a neat finish into the bottom corner ten minutes from time.
Emre Can completed the rout with a penalty in injury time after Ramy Bensebaini brought down Wolf in the box.
(A.Monet--LPdF)
