Thomas Mueller’s first-half strike on Saturday was enough for Bayern Munich to win 1-0 at Werder Bremen and become the first side to start the Bundesliga with nine victories.
Mueller scored his ninth of the season in the 24th minute when he ran past the static Bremen defense for Thiago Alcantara’s clever ball, then eluded the goalkeeper with his first touch and slotted inside the post with his next.
Bayern had nearly 90 percent possession in the first half and might have had a penalty in either half, first when Robert Lewandowski was held by Alejandro Galvez, and then when he was caught badly above the knee by Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald’s studs.
Photo: Reuters
“It was a penalty. It is a pity the referee did not give it,” Lewandowski said. “It would be a bigger issue if it had been decisive, but we won. Three points.”
Anthony Ujah missed Bremen’s best chance to equalize when he shot straight at Manuel Neuer.
Bayern restored their seven-point lead over Borussia Dortmund with their 999th Bundesliga victory.
“The performance was enough this time, but we will need more in the coming weeks,” Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.
Also on Saturday, Max Meyer scored in stoppage-time for Schalke 04 to beat 10-man Hertha BSC 2-1 and consolidate third place, Max Kruse scored a hat-trick as VfL Wolfsburg defeated TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 4-2, Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 0-0 at Hamburger SV and promoted SV Darmstadt 98 won 2-0 at Augsburg.
Darmstadt climbed to ninth thanks to first half strikes from Sandro Wagner and Peter Niemeyer.
Leverkusen slipped to eighth after their fourth draw.
Borussia Moenchengladbach routed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 away to continue their resurgence under interim coach Andre Schubert.
Raffael put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute after Yann Sommer saved Lars Stindl’s initial effort.
Sommer gave away a penalty for bringing down Luc Castaignos, and Alexander Meier duly equalized from the spot in the 29th minute.
Mahmoud Dahoud restored the visitors’ lead with a deflected shot in the 51st minute and then set up Raffael in the 57th.
Andre Hahn added a penalty in the 82nd minute after the impressive Dahoud was fouled by Marco Russ, and then completed the scoring in the last minute.
Moenchengladbach have won all four league games since Lucien Favre quit as coach after starting with five defeats.
Hertha might have moved third, but the side’s prospects were damaged when Vedad Ibisevic was sent off for a foul on Meyer in the 18th minute.
Benedikt Hoewedes put Schalke ahead nine minutes later with a header from a corner on his first league start of the season.
Salomon Kalou equalized with a header from Mitchell Weiser’s cross in the 73rd minute, only for Meyer’s late strike after some fine work by Leroy Sane to set off the home side’s celebrations.
In Wolfsburg, midfielder Julian Draxler set up Kruse in the first minute and then Bas Dost in the sixth, before Jeremy Toljan pulled one back for Hoffenheim in the 29th.
Jonathan Schmid equalized in the 54th minute, but Kruse claimed his second of the match in the 62nd and completed his hat-trick in the 83rd.
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