In this season’s Bundesliga title chase, Bayern Munich landed the first major blow when they recovered to defeat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 away in Der Klassiker.
The champions of last season were tied on points to opponents Dortmund going into the weekend but forged a three-point lead and two away from the early second-placed leaders of RB Leipzig on Saturday.
In the 25th minute, Bayern believed they had gone ahead when Lewandowski swept Serge Gnabry’s low cross into the corner, but the score was disallowed after a lengthy VAR search because the right knee of the Pole was offside.
Dortmund looked subdued and Bayern took power, with chances for Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman. 10 minutes before the break, Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich had to be helped off the floor. After hurting himself when trying to avoid Haaland with a foul, Kimmich appeared close to tears. 10 minutes after the incident with his first touch of Raphaël Guerreiro’s cross, Reus shot in under the crossbar in the 45th minute. But there was still time for David Alaba to equalize with a deflected free-kick before the interval.
Three minutes into the second half, Lewandoski brought his tally this season to 11 league goals as he made it 2-1 as he got ahead of Mats Hummels to head Lucas Hernández’s ball into the far corner. Minutes later, Coman struck the post as Bayern preserved the good start to the second half.
Lucien Favre replied by taking Jude Bellingham, 17, with half an hour left, and then Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt with about 20 minutes to go. Hans Flick threw in former Manchester City winger Leroy Sané for Coman and lined up with Lewandoski to clinch the outcome in the 80th minute on a counterattack. In the 83rd, Haaland took one back, but Bayern remained more likely to win. In extra time, Lewandowski had a second goal thrown out for offside.
It was the third encounter of the sides in 2020 and the third one that went to the wire and Dortmund, who had conceded only two league goals all season before Saturday, let in two in five minutes either side of the break. But as long as Dortmund’s aspirations for the title rely on taking Bayern’s points away, a close-fought loss counts for nothing.
In May and the DFL-Supercup in September, Kimmich scored the winning goals in the league, but in his absence here, Flick’s side got the job done, claiming a seventh victory in eight over BVB in the Bundesliga.
