Munich, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) – Arjen Robben converted a penalty kick in
the 86th minute as Bayern Munich rallied for a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund
at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
Marco Reus put struggling Dortmund in front with a goal in the 31st minute,
but former Dortmund star Robert Lewandowski equalized for Bayern in the 72nd
before Robben won the match for the defending champions from the penalty spot.
Bayern moves four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with the win,
while Dortmund’s terrible run of form in the league continues with the club
having claimed just one point from its last seven league outings, dropping
Dortmund into the bottom three.
Despite the great disparity between the teams in the table, Dortmund started
well and looked to be the more dangerous side in the first half.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan struck the outside of the post for Dortmund, while Reus put
his team in front in the 31st when he got on the other end of a cross from
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to head the ball past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel
Neuer.
The home side turned up the pressure in the second half and spent much of the
time in the Dortmund end of the field.
Bayern was a bit fortunate to equalize in the 72nd when Neven Subotic slid in
to block a pass from Bayern’s Franck Ribery, only to redirect the ball into
the path of Lewandowski, who lashed it home from 25 yards.
Ribery had a hand in Bayern’s winner five minutes from time when he stole the
ball from Subotic and was pulled down inside the box by the Dortmund defender,
allowing Robben to send goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller the wrong way from the
spot.
Wolfsburg climbed into second place after hammering Stuttgart, 4-0, behind two
goals from Ivan Perisic and a goal apiece from Robin Knoche and Kevin de
Bruyne.
The win moves the club three points clear of both Hoffenheim and
Monchengladbach, who square off on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen could have taken over third place with a win at struggling
Hamburg, but the club suffered a 1-0 defeat as Rafael van der Vaart scored the
game’s lone goal from the penalty spot in the 26th minute, giving Hamburg its
second victory of the campaign.
Hannover managed a 1-0 win against Eintracht thanks to an 88th-minute own goal
from Alexander Madlung, while Werder Bremen secured its first win of the
season on Saturday, downing Mainz, 2-1, thanks to a pair of goals from Franco
Di Santo.
