Bayern put dent in Dortmund's title credentials with hard-fought win

Bayern Munich put a sizable dent in Borussia Dortmund's hopes of mounting a credible title challenge in the Bundesliga this season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at the Westfalenstadion.

The visitors thought they had broken the deadlock after just 27 minutes when Robert Lewandowski’s outstretched leg finished a remarkable counter attack but VAR pulled it back for offisde.

Marco Reus then put the hosts in front with a sharp and clinical finish after getting on to the end of Raphael Guerreiro cross, with the hope of putting Dortmund in front at the break. Yet, just before the break, David Alaba stepped up to curve home a set-piece on the edge of the opposition box.

If Lucien Favre’s side had high hopes of turning things around in the second half it was quickly extinguished when Lucas Hernandez’s cross into the box found Lewandowski, whose glancing header tucked just inside the back post of the Dortmund goal just three minutes in to the half.

After throwing caution to the wind in the hope of finding a second equaliser, Dortmund were then undone again by another counter attack. This time it was Leroy Sane’s who stepped up to fire home a goal that looked far too easy to score.

Erling Haaland would grab a consolation goal for the home side when he was played through by a second assist of the day from Guerreiro, but it did little to change the outcome of the match and in the dying moments of the game it was Lewandowski who once again found the back of the net with a fortunate finish off a nearby defender rather than an incisive goal up the other end of the park. Shame it was once again ruled offside by the VAR decision.

Bayern had claimed their second Der Klassiker victory of the season and firmly put Dortmund in their place in the Bundesliga.

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