BERLIN – Bayern Munich topped the Bundesliga for the first time this season with a 7-0 thrashing of Bochum as Robert Lewandowski scored for a record 13th consecutive home league game.
Lewandowski stretched his scoring run to 19 consecutive games across all competitions for Bayern. The Poland star´s second half goal also ensured he became the first Bundesliga player to score in 13 consecutive home games.
Bayern was already confident after starting the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday beating Barcelona 3-0, while Bochum arrived in Munich after two league defeats.
The visitors made a solid start until Leroy Sane opened the scoring with a brilliant free kick in the 17th minute. It was Bayern´s first shot on target.
Sane set up Joshua Kimmich in the 27th and Serge Gnabry picked the far corner. An own goal from Vasilios Lampropoulos completed a first half to forget for Bochum – though history showed an improbable comeback was possible.
The clubs also met in the Bundesliga 45 years ago to the day, when Bochum – then playing at home – was four goals up against Bayern at halftime. Bayern fought back in the second half to win 6-5 with future club president Uli Hoeneb scoring the winner in the 89th.
Kimmich got his second goal four minutes later and substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting made it 7-0 in the 79th.
“It was a lot of fun for us, for Bochum not so much,” Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka said after facing his hometown club according to AP. “Of course that makes me a bit sorry personally. We didn’t give Bochum any air to breathe.”
Elsewhere, Florian Niederlechner´s late goal gave Augsburg a 1-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach — the home team´s first league win of the season.
Mainz drew with Freiburg 0-0 and it also ended scoreless between Arminia Bielefeld and Hoffenheim.
Ondrej Duda blew a chance to score a dramatic last-gasp winner, allowing Leipzig to escape with a 1-1 draw after a helter-skelter late game in Cologne.
Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn had just made an outstanding save to deny Dominik Szoboszlai in their one-on-one in injury time, then Leipzig counterpart Peter Gulacsi stopped Sebastian Andersson´s effort at the other end. The rebound fell to Duda in front of an empty net, but the Slovakian midfielder somehow shot straight back at Gulácsi.
Horn finished the game with eight saves. There were five VAR calls.
Anthony Modeste already had two goals ruled out through VAR for offside before he fired the ball in off the underside of the crossbar in the 54th minute. Referee Felix Brych ruled the goal out for an apparent foul by Mark Uth on Mohamed Simakan in the buildup, but checked replays after another VAR intervention and eventually awarded the goal.
It prompted a response from Leipzig. Emil Forsberg thought he´d scored but again VAR found an offside infringement. Amadou Haidara equalized in the 71st with a header to a corner.
Horn pulled off his saves and Kingsley Ehizibue made a goal-saving tackle on Christopher Nkunku to keep the sides level until the late chances in injury time.
The draw will do little to ease the pressure on Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch, whose team has only four points from its opening five games.
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