 |
| Lewandowski nets 250th Bundesliga goal as Bayern keep pace with Leverkusen. AFP |
Lewandowski, who finds out Thursday whether he has been
voted FIFA’s player of the year having been shortlisted alongside Cristiano
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, has scored 18 goals in 17 games for Bayern this
season in all competitions.
“I haven’t thought about it (the awards), I was just focused
on this game – I’m pretty relaxed about it, let’s see what happens,” he told
Sky after his two goals.
Leverkusen, who host Bayern in Saturday’s top-of-the-table
clash, remain first in the table – a point ahead of Munich – after a 4-0 romp
away to Cologne in the Rhineland derby.
Wolfsburg took a shock lead within five minutes at the
Allianz Arena when Leroy Sane’s error on the edge of the area led to Maximilian
Philipp smashing home the loose ball.
Wolfsburg’s Dutch striker Wout Weghorst then had a goal
ruled offside on 17 minutes.
However, Lewandowski reached the 250-goal milestone when he
headed Bayern’s equaliser just before the break.
He became only the third to achieve the feat alongside
Bayern legend Gerd Mueller and Schalke striker Klaus Fischer.
Lewandowski then fired the winner into the bottom corner of
the net on 50 minutes.
He has now claimed 23 goals in 20 league matches against
Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg suffered their first league defeat this season as
Bayern got back to winning ways after drawing their two previous league games.
In Cologne, Leverkusen remain the league’s only unbeaten
team after racing into a 2-0 lead on ten minutes thanks to goals by Mitchell
Weiser and Moussa Diaby.
Czech striker Patrik Schick added Leverkusen’s third early
in the second half when he buried Diaby’s cross before former Cologne player
Florian Wirtz grabbed the visitor’s fourth.
Things remain tight at the top of the table as third-placed
RB Leipzig stayed level on 28 points with Bayern with a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim
thanks to Yussuf Poulsen’s second-half winner.
Schalke 04 are three short of matching an unwanted
Bundesliga record after their 2-0 home defeat against Freiburg left the
league’s bottom side without a win in their last 28 games.
“We lose hope too quickly. We must have more belief,”
Schalke defender Benjamin Stambouli told Sky.
Schalke are closing in fast on the record, held by Tasmania
Berlin who in their one Bundesliga season, went 31 matches without winning in
1965/66.
Schalke coach Manuel Baum, who took charge in September
after predecessor David Wagner was fired, already has the unwanted club record
of being winless in his first 10 games.
Freiburg winger Roland Sallai headed the visitors ahead
after 50 minutes behind closed doors in Gelsenkirchen, then added a second 18
minutes later when he chipped home a perfectly-timed pass.
Having only ended their own nine-match winless streak on
Saturday with a 2-0 home victory against Arminia Bielefeld, Freiburg are up to
10th in the table.
Schalke have now not won a game since January.
With a third of the season gone, they are six points from
safety and on course for relegation after 30 unbroken seasons in Germany’s top
tier.
This Saturday, Schalke have their next chance to end their
miserable run at home to Bielefeld, who remain in the bottom three after
Wednesday’s 1-0 home defeat to Augbsurg.