BERLIN: Bayern Munich opened a nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table Friday with a 4-0 home win over Wolfsburg as goal-scorers Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller and Dayot Upamecano all celebrated milestones.
Mueller marked his 400th Bundesliga appearance by opening the scoring with his 222nd league goal before defender Dayot Upamecano, signed from Leipzig for this season, headed in his first goal in the famous red Bayern shirt.
Leroy Sane then planted a shot into the left corner on the hour mark.
Lewandowski, who on Tuesday equalled Gerd Mueller’s record of 42 German league goals in a calendar year, capped a gala night with Bayern’s fourth to claim the new record outright.
This was Bayern’s final match before the Bundesliga winter break.
Their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table can be trimmed on Saturday by second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who are away to Hertha Berlin.
This was Wolfsburg’s seventh straight loss, piling the pressure on new head coach Florian Kohfeldt who only took charge at the end of October after the sacking of predecessor Mark van Bommel.
In contrast, this was Bayern’s seventh straight victory in all competitions.
Bayern were ahead after only seven minutes behind closed doors at the Allianz Arena when Serge Gnabry’s thunderbolt shot from distance was parried into the path of Mueller, who tapped home.
It stayed 1-0 at the break, but Mueller’s deft chip gave him a 15th assist in the Bundesliga this season as Upamecano steered his header into the net.
Just three minutes later, Sane grabbed Bayern’s third when he unleashed a superb shot which gave Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels no chance.
Lewandowski finally got the goal to break another of Gerd Mueller’s records with some deadly finishing.
Before kick-off, Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic ruled out any new signings in the forthcoming January transfer window.
“We are really well-staffed, that’s a fact,” he stressed, “we will continue as things are this season.”
Lewandowski bags record as Bayern go nine points clear in Germany
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Lewandowski bags record as Bayern go nine points clear in Germany
- Mueller marked his 400th Bundesliga appearance by opening the scoring with his 222nd league goal
- Lewandowski, who on Tuesday equalled Gerd Mueller's record of 42 German league goals in a calendar year, capped a gala night with Bayern's fourth to claim the new record outright
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
