Staff Reporter.
Leroy Sane’s second-half goal gave misfiring Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory over visitors Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday to keep the champions top of the Bundesliga, a point ahead of Borussia Dortmund.
Sane broke the deadlock in the 71st minute with a powerful drive after the Bavarians had squandered a bagful of chances, to lift his team to 31 points from 13 games, with next week’s opponents Dortmund on 30 after beating VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 earlier in the day.
Following a turbulent few days for Bayern after last week’s Bundesliga loss to Augsburg and a string of positive COVID-19 cases among their players, they were desperate to reclaim top spot from Dortmund. But they were frustrated in a dominant first half by Arminia goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, whose series of superb saves kept the visitors in the game.
After the break the Bavarians picked up where they left off and had two early golden chances through Sane and Thomas Mueller. Sane had another good opportunity in the 57th minute with a volley that sailed just wide, but he did not miss in the 71st, rifling in from outside the box from a Mueller pass.
Substitute Serge Gnabry rattled the bar minutes later but it was Sane’s goal that meant Bayern set a league record with 102 Bundesliga goals in a calendar year, beating Cologne’s mark from 1977.
Dortmund had earlier gone top with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg when Erling Haaland scored on his return from injury.
The return of Haaland is a huge boost for Dortmund, who host Bayern next weekend in a top-of-the-table clash.
Haaland netted his 50th Bundesliga goal in as many games, just eight minutes after coming off the bench in the second half following a five-week absence with a leg injury.
He tapped home a Julian Brandt cross, adding to an Emre Can penalty and Donyell Malen goal for Dortmund after Wout Weghorst had given Wolfsburg an early lead.
“We missed him (Haaland) in the last few weeks. He’s a weapon,” Brandt told Sky.
The win came three days after a 3-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon ended Dortmund’s hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16.
Third-placed Freiburg are now eight points adrift of second-placed Dortmund after their 2-1 defeat at Bochum handed the visitors a third straight league loss.
Serbian striker Milos Pantovic scored the winner eight minutes from time to ruin Christian Streich’s 300th Bundesliga game as Freiburg coach.
“It would have been a cool day if we had won,” admitted Streich.
Bayer Leverkusen can leapfrog Freiburg into third if they win at Covid-hit RB Leipzig on Sunday.
Leipzig have Willi Orban, Yussuf Poulsen, Hugo Novoa and Mohamed Simakan all in quarantine after testing positive.
However goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi could return if a PCR test is negative Sunday.
There was a nine-goal thriller at bottom side Greuther Fuerth as Togo striker Ihlas Bebou bagged a hat-trick in Hoffenheim’s 6-3 victory.