Thomas Mueller helps Bayern beat Monchengladbach, stretch Bundesliga lead
Thomas Mueller scored on his 250th Bundesliga appearance to stretch Bayern Munich's lead to 13 points with a 1-0 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach yesterday.
Bayern, which has lost only once in the league all season, took a big step toward an unprecedented fifth straight title after Leipzig's surprise defeat at Werder Bremen on Saturday. There are nine rounds remaining after the international break.
"We knew what the situation was. We wanted to win the game," said Mueller, whose side is unbeaten in 19 matches across all competitions.
Bayern quickly settled into a pattern of trying to break through while 'Gladbach was restricted to a couple of long-range efforts that failed to trouble Manuel Neuer.
'Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer was much busier, denying Robert Lewandowski and Mueller.
Bayern went closest before the break when Arjen Robben struck the left corner of the goal-frame after cutting in from the right, and Sommer pulled off an outstanding reflex save to deny Lewandowski from the rebound. Lewandowski had also displayed great athleticism to make the header.
Just as the home side was displaying more bravery and Raffael went close after the hour-mark, Mueller struck when Thiago Alcantara played him in with a brilliant ball lifted over the defense. Mueller took one touch to control it and another to finally beat Sommer. It was just his second league goal compared to 20 last season.
"I don't know if you can call it 'typical Mueller' but I got a goal," the Germany forward said. "Of course it's a nice day for me."
Bayern's defense held firm as midtable 'Gladbach pushed hard for an equalizer.
Robben was visibly unhappy to be taken off with five minutes remaining.
"Footballers are still people. Even with a 13-point lead there's dissatisfaction there with one or two things. That's why we're ahead and I find it super," Mueller said.
MAINZ 0, SCHALKE 1
Sead Kolasinac's second-half strike was enough for Schalke to claim just its second away victory in the league.
Kolasinac struck five minutes after the break, playing a onetwo with Guido Burgstaller when he was surrounded by defenders before running on to shoot inside the right corner.
The goal settled the visitors while Mainz was forced to risk more going forward.
GERMANY
Friday B. Dortmund-Ingolstadt ..................1-0 Saturday Wolfsburg-Darmstadt .....................1-0 Cologne-Hertha Berlin ....................4-2 Augsburg-Freiburg ..........................1-1 W. Bremen-RB Leipzig .....................3-0 Hoffenheim-B. Leverkusen..............1-0 E. Frankfurt-Hamburg .....................0-0 Yesterday Mainz-Schalke 04 ............................0-1 B. M’gladbach-Bay. Munich.............0-1
Standings
PW D L F A Pts B. Munich 25 19 5 1 61 13 62 RB Leipzig 25 15 4 6 43 28 49 Dortmund 25 13 7 5 54 27 46 Hoffenheim 25 11 12 2 46 25 45 Hertha Berlin 25 12 4 9 34 30 40 FC Cologne 25 9 10 6 37 29 37 E. Frankfurt 25 10 6 9 26 27 36 SC Freiburg 25 10 5 10 32 42 35 Schalke 25 9 6 10 32 27 33 B. M’gladbach 25 9 5 11 30 34 32 B. Leverkusen 25 9 4 12 37 40 31 Mainz 05 25 8 5 12 33 41 29 W. Bremen 25 8 5 12 34 44 29 FC Augsburg 25 7 8 10 24 34 29 Wolfsburg 25 8 5 12 23 34 29 Hamburg 25 7 6 12 24 46 27 Ingolstadt 25 5 4 16 23 42 19 Darmstadt 25 4 3 18 17 47 15