Champions Bayern Munich on Sunday had to work hard for more than an hour before beating VfB Stuttgart 4-1 in the Bundesliga for their seventh straight league win to stay six points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.
The Bavarians took the lead with their first shot on goal, Thiago Alcantara firing them in front, but instead of enjoying a comfortable afternoon, the hosts were made to work hard.
“We started well, scored the goal, but then were absent for 35 minutes,” said Bayern coach Niko Kovac, who fielded the same starting lineup as in their win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim the previous weekend.
Photo: AFP
“We were too slow, too many players behind the ball, and struggled to break down the Stuttgart defense. We did it better after the break, we were faster, sharper. We can tick this game off, we stayed in touch [with Dortmund] and on we go,” he said.
Stuttgart snatched a 26th-minute equalizer through Tasos Donis’ superbly curled effort, before Christian Gentner’s 55th-minute own-goal, a deflection of Serge Gnabry’s shot, gave Bayern a renewed lead.
The visitors refused to give up and Nicolas Gonzalez hit the woodwork on the hour.
Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski sent his 65th-minute penalty-kick on to the post, but Leon Goretzka settled the hosts’ nerves, heading in with 19 minutes to go for his fifth league goal of the season.
Lewandowski then made amends for his earlier miss in the 84th minute as Bayern completed their win to move up to second on 42 points.
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