Arjen Robben’s 100th goal for German champions Bayern Munich sent them on their way to a 2-0 win over SC Freiburg and extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga on Tuesday.
Goals by Robben and Thomas Mueller sealed Bayern’s win, which gave them a 12-point lead over VfL Wolfsburg, who were due to play struggling Borussia Dortmund yesterday.
However, Bayern’s win came at a cost as defender Mehdi Benatia, striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Xabi Alonso all picked up injuries.
Photo: AFP
Benatia will definitely miss the final game of the year against FSV Mainz 05 on Friday with a groin injury, while both Lewandowski and Alonso took knocks to their right ankles.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had described Robben as the “best outfield player in the world” after the Dutch winger scored twice in Bayern’s 4-0 thrashing of Augsburg on Saturday.
The 30-year-old certainly did not let Rummenigge regret his words on Tuesday as he headed home Bayern’s opener to claim his ninth goal in 12 Bundesliga games.
Photo: EPA
Mueller added Bayern’s second to wrap up the points.
“It was a good result, we would have liked a few more goals, but they packed men behind the ball, so we’re very happy with the win,” Mueller said.
“It’s nice to have a 12-point lead, that was our goal, we were very dominant and we did our job,” the forward said.
Only a superb display from Freiburg goalkeeper Roman Burki kept the scoreline respectable as Bayern fired in 31 shots on goal — a Bundesliga record this season.
With Freiburg packing their defense and Bayern enjoying more than 80 percent possession, it was only a matter of time before the hosts took the lead.
However, it still took until four minutes before halftime for them to break the deadlock. Franck Ribery — who also brought up his century of goals for the club earlier this month — headed back across goal and Robben headed down past Burki.
The hosts’ second goal came from a superb bit of skill.
Robben’s accurate long-range pass was met by Spaniard Juan Bernat, who put in a superb cross with a deft touch which Burki deflected onto the crossbar, only for Mueller to head home on 48 minutes.
In Tuesday’s other matches, 10-man VfB Stuttgart climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Hamburg SV thanks to Florian Klein’s first-half winner.
The visitors played the best part of the second half a man down after defender Georg Niedermeier was shown a straight red card for pulling back Hamburg striker Artjoms Rudnevs just after the break.
Augsburg stayed in fifth place despite their second straight defeat as they went down 2-0 at Hannover 96, while mid-table FSV Mainz 05 warmed up for Friday’s visit by leaders Bayern Munich with a goalless draw at Cologne.
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