Thomas Muller scored twice as Bayern Munich went back to the top of the table on Saturday night with a commanding win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern impressed at Munich’s Allianz Arena in sealing their third straight league victory to claim top place from Wolfsburg, who beat Schalke 3-0 on Friday without Manchester City-bound Kevin de Bruyne.
Muller and Dutch winger Arjen Robben both converted second-half penalties for Bayern.
“That was a very good statement for us, we were strong to go 3-0 against a top Bundesliga and Champions League team,” said Robben.
Guardiola lined Xabi Alonso up with David Alaba at the heart of a makeshift central defence, with Medhi Benatia and Jerome Boateng both absent due to injury and suspension respectively.
Leverkusen came at the Bavarians with a three-man attack and, while their focus was mainly on ensuring Bayern did not create chances – succeeding in limiting them to a Thiago Alcantara effort in the first 25 minutes – they did try to seek out Karim Bellarabi down the right as often as they could.
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The first time Douglas Costa escaped the attentions of Roberto Hilbert proved crucial, however. The Brazilian’s fine first touch enabled him to skip past the Leverkusen full-back and his cross was turned in by Muller.
Costa struck the post minutes later when he raced in unmarked at the far post to meet Robben’s cross, forcing Leverkusen to regroup.
The visitors made good enough territory to earn a free-kick in a dangerous position, or rather a lethal one when you have Hakan Calhanoglu in your team. The Turkish midfielder once again underlined his set-piece prowess with a dipping effort which Manuel Neuer barely touched onto the crossbar as Bayern survived a scare before the break.
Perfect performance by Bayern. No center-backs, no problem. Tactics spot on from Pep and all the players stepped up again. #FCBB04
— Cristian Nyari (@Cnyari) August 29, 2015
Robben sought a penalty with a theatrical fall in the opening minute of the first-half, his prolonged protests falling on deaf ears. Back at the other end, Neuer and then Alaba both denied Stefan Kiessling before Bayern did get a penalty with Hilbert shoving Arturo Vidal in the back, and Muller made it five for the season, converting his ninth Bundesliga penalty in 10 attempts.
Hilbert’s miserable evening continued when he handled the ball inside the area to give away another penalty, which Robben this time converted to boost his personal record to 11 successful spot-kicks out of 12.
Robbie Kruse had a goal ruled out for handball before Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze could have made it worse for Leverkusen as Bayern asserted their authority on the game, and once again on the Bundesliga.
