Bayern Munich moved a step closer to a third straight Bundesliga title thanks to a 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, yesterday.
Robert Lewandowski boosted his own chances of winning the golden boot award at the end of his first season with Bayern, and a second in a row after finishing the league’s top-scorer with Borussia Dortmund last season, by netting two goals in a commanding victory for Pep Guardiola’s men.
Bayern also had a goal disallowed and they struck the woodwork before Thomas Mueller added a third, with few doubts from start to finish that they would pick up all three points again.
It was downhill all the way for Bayern after Lewandowski gave them the lead on 15 minutes.
Mueller put him in position to shoot, but it took a sweet volley to beat Kevin Trapp into the top left-hand corner.
Bayern had the ball in the back of the net again shortly before half-time, but after consultation with his linesman, the referee ruled out Mueller’s effort for offside, even though the ball came to him from an opponent.
But the hosts did not have long to wait for their second with Mario Goetze’s shot blocked but the ball fell kindly for Lewandowski to tuck in for his 16th goal of the season. He is now three behind Eintracht Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier.
Lewandowski did not complete his hat-trick but there was a third for Bayern with Mueller netting from a tight angle in the 82nd minute, setting the Bavarians up in style for their Champions League quarter-final with Porto in midweek.
Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next season suffered a further setback as they were beaten 3-1 at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
A week after going down at home to Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp’s men were sent reeling to a second straight league defeat with Oscar Wendt, Raffael and Havard Nordt-veit giving Gladbach a three-goal advantage.
Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back for the visitors, but it was merely a consolation which leaves the Westphalians languishing in mid-table with six games of the season remaining.
Results
B. Munich vs E. Frankfurt - 3-0
B. M’gladbach vs B. Dortmund - 3-1
Hamburg vs Wolfsburg - 0-2
Mainz vs Bayer Leverkusen - 2-3
Paderborn vs Augsburg - 2-1
Schalke vs Freiburg - 0-0
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| B. Munich | 28 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 74 | 13 | 70 |
| Wolfsburg | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 62 | 30 | 60 |
| B. Mgladbach | 28 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 44 | 22 | 53 |
| B. Lev’kusen | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 52 | 31 | 51 |
| Schalke | 28 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 37 | 31 | 41 |
| Augsburg | 28 | 12 | 3 | 13 | 34 | 36 | 39 |
| Hoffenheim | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 42 | 37 |
| E. Frankfurt | 28 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 51 | 57 | 35 |
| W. Bremen | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 54 | 35 |
| B. Dortmund | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 35 | 37 | 33 |
| Hertha Berlin | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 34 | 45 | 33 |
| Mainz | 28 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 37 | 39 | 31 |
| Cologne | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 26 | 33 | 30 |
| Freiburg | 28 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 27 | 36 | 29 |
| Hanover | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 29 |
| Paderborn | 28 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 25 | 53 | 27 |
| Hamburg | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 43 | 25 |
| Stuttgart | 27 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 28 | 49 | 23 |
Playing today
Cologne vs Hoffenheim - 15.30
Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen - 17.30