27 February 2016
Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 on Saturday afternoon to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to 11 points.
The hosts were made to weather persistent pressure from the visitors during a first half in which Douglas Costa saw a shot cleared off the line, while Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski also had opportunities to open the scoring.
Wolfsburg defender Naldo forced Manuel Neuer into two decent blocks shortly before the break, but after the interval, Bayern reassumed control of proceedings and might well have broken the deadlock in the 55th minute when Lewandowski’s strike was chalked off for offside.
With Pep Guardiola looking to find a way past what was proving to be a resolute home rearguard, the Catalan coach replaced Arjen Robben with Franck Ribery. The Frenchman had an immediate impact when, in the 66th minute, he dribbled past three defenders before laying off to Lewandowski, whose shot cannoned off an opposition player into Kingsley Coman’s path and the Juventus loanee made no mistake with a close-range volley.
Eight minutes later, Ribery and Coman would also have a hand in Bayern’s second goal of the afternoon, as the latter beat his man down the right flank before whipping in a fine cross for his compatriot to knock down into Lewandowski’s direction and the Pole instinctively steered a left-footed effort into the bottom corner.
This was the in-form forward’s 23rd league strike of the season and one which wrapped up his side’s 20th win of the campaign, thus marking the perfect way for the club to celebrate its 116th birthday.
Today's result also enlarges the gap, at least temporarily, between Bayern and second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who host Hoffenheim tomorrow.
