Lewandowski, Lahm goals help Bayern take down Ingolstadt
Bayern Munich is Germany's 'Autumn Champions' for the 21st time after beating FC Ingolstadt 2-0, making it 12 wins from 12 this season at the Allianz Arena.
Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Philipp Lahm secured the unofficial title for Pep Guardiola, but the league-leaders had to work hard for the points. Ingolstadt defended superbly for the best part of an hour and missed several outstanding chances that would have turned the game on its head before the interval.
Even with such depth, Bayern had to complete the job whilst dealing with a serious injury problem. For the 16thweek of the campaign, Guardiola was without Douglas Costa, Arjen Robben, Mario Götze, Juan Bernat, David Alaba, while Franck Ribery and Medhi Benatia picked up knocks in midweek at Dinamo Zagreb.
Their opponents, FC Ingolstadt, had the second best defensive record in the league before kickoff having conceded just 15 goals. On their travels, the Bavarians have only lost seven goals this season. Ralph Hasenhüttl promised a positive approach in the week before and his side adopted a shape between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3. American Alfredo Morales was suspended after picking up five yellow cards this season.
Bayern's clearest opening of the half came after 25 minutes when Kimmich picked out Robert Lewandowski with a long pass, but the Polish striker's effort was eventually cleared. A minute later, Thomas Müller claimed handball against Tobias Levels, but it was waved away by the match referee Michael Weiner.
After a resolute display, Ingolstadt squandered a guilt-edge chance on 42 minutes when Stefan Lex beat Jerome Boateng, was clear on Manuel Neuer, but the German goalie stood firm to keep the scores blank. Neuer then saved two minutes later at the end of the half from Austrian forward Lukas Hinterseer.
But Guardiola's side got to grips with the task at hand in the second half. Like Andre Schubert had done weeks before, the former Barcelona boss handed Philipp Lahm some notes and the Bayern captain helped facilitate the tactical change. The right-back moved into attack, while Javi Martinez tucked in to keep the door closed.
On 51 minutes, Lahm's charging run into the box was picked out by Müller, but he couldn't beat Ingolstadt goalie Ramazan Özcan who blocked the finish. Guardiola had seen enough though and switched Arturo Vidal with Thiago Alcantara who was introduced despite ongoing concerns about his fitness.
Yet before Bayern would eventually break the resolve of Hasenhüttl's men, the visitors would have the best chance of the game. Countering with patient, composed passing, Australian Matt Leckie carried the ball upfield, sliding in Lex who couldn't beat Neuer from inside the box. A little bit more conviction and Ingolstadt would have led by the hour.
But 64 minutes in, Bayern punished the rare mistake at the back to lead. Özcan charged out of his goal unnecessarily and Lewandowski flicked home a long ball from Boateng. The Polish striker now has 15 goals for the campaign – two behind Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And with 15 minutes left, Bayern scored a second – Lahm tucking into an empty net after good work from Müller and Kingsley Coman. There's no prize for being Autumn champions, but 35 of the last 52 have gone on to win the championship in May.
Meanwhile, there was no let up in Hertha Berlin's form this season as the Berliners jumped into third with a 4-0 win at newly-promoted Darmstadt.
On 11 minutes, Pal Dardai's men took the lead when Mitchell Weiser picked out Vedad Ibisevic and the Bosnian held off Aytac Sulu to prod home. Hertha were 2-0 up on 26 minutes through left-back Marvin Plattenhardt. Five minutes after half time, Ibisevic bagged his third double in seven games. The corner kick from Vladimir Darida was headed across goal by US international John Anthony Brooks and the former Stuttgart striker converted from inside the six-yard-box. Salomon Kalou scored his eighth of the season on 77 minutes to add shine to the win and keep the Berliners in contention for a top-four spot.
Fresh from beating Manchester United in midweek, Wolfsburg scored late on to avoid defeat against Hamburg. Bruno Labbadia's men punished a mistake from Dante on 21 minutes with Nicolai Müller scoring. But Dieter Hecking's men got the goal they deserved on the balance of play with 13 minutes left - Maxi Arnold sliding in at the near-post to equalize.
Werder Bremen's winless run continues after a 1-1 draw at home to Cologne. Jannik Vestergaard opened the scoring after two minutes, but Bremen had lost six of their last seven home games in the Bundesliga.
Anthony Ujah was nudged over by Dominique Heintz on 36 minutes, earning a penalty kick, but the Nigerian striker couldn't score against his former employers. Cologne hadn't scored in eight of their last nine matches, but leveled late on through Dusan Svento to leave the Northern Germany city with a point.
Hoffenheim moved off the bottom of the league with their first three points under Huub Stevens. The team from Sinsheim held on to a 30th minute header from Jonathan Schmid to take their first home win of the season and move up one place to 17th.
