IANS
MUNICH, FEBRUARY 28
German football giants Bayern Munich overcame Wolfsburg with two second-half goals while Hannover bounced back to beat Stuttgart 2-1 thanks to Christian Schulz’ brace in the 23rd round of Bundesliga.
Bundesliga front-runners Bayern Munich reaped their third straight win as Kingsley Coman and Robert Lewandowski scored the goals against Wolfsburg on Saturday, reports Xinhua.
Pep Guardiola’s men started highly motivated and grabbed the reins with the starting whistle. Wolfsburg defended deep and kept all their men behind the ball to brave out Bayern’s pressure in the opening period.
The visitors dominated the ball but lacked in accuracy in their finish as the ‘Wolves’ gained confidence to threat Bayern on fast breaks.
Wolfsburg’s Julian Draxler and Max Kruse tested Bayern custodian Manuel Neuer before Marcel Schaefer wasted the golden chance for the hosts after pulling wide from 11 metres just before the break.
After the restart, Wolfsburg continued to pose a threat for Bayern’s defence but Julian Draxler was unable to beat Manuel Neuer from promising a position in the 64th minute. The German record champions punished Wolfsburg two minutes later as Coman slotted home a blocked shot to break the deadlock from inside the box.
Wolfsburg remained unimpressed and had the chance through Vieirinha to level the scores but Neuer was again on guard (71st minute). Bundesliga top-scorer Lewandowski destroyed all hopes of a comeback moments later after poking in the 2-0 lead and his 23rd goal of the season.
With the result, Bayern consolidated their top spot in the standings with an 11-point advantage whereas Wolfsburg suffered their eighth loss of the season and remain on eighth.
Last placed Hannover stopped their negative run as well as Stuttgart’s unbeaten run with a 2-1-comeback win. Hannover opened the scoring with 18 minutes into the game through Timo Werner, who had all the time and space to nod in Alexandru Maxim’s assist.
Nevertheless, Hannover kept it bowling and equalised the scores at the half-hour mark when captain Schulz headed home Hiroshi Kiyotake’s free-kick at the far post. Stuttgart controlled the proceedings but Hannover grabbed the 2-1 lead out of the blue as Schulz wrapped his brace after Kiyotake’s second groundwork.
Despite the victory Hannover remain last with five points to safety while Stuttgart slipped to 12th.
Elsewhere, Hamburg shared the spoils with newly promoted Ingolstadt following a 1-1 after 90 minutes. Bremen and newly promoted Darmstadt shared the points as well after a 2-all draw.
