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Bayern Munich kept their 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund Saturday evening.
Former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski’s header was the only goal of a tough game for Pep Guardiola’s men , who took a step closer to a third straight Bundesliga title as they responded to Wolfsburg’s win earlier on Saturday.
Defeat means Dortmund will have to rethink their plans for the rest of the season as European football looks in doubt.
With seven games of the season remaining, Jurgen Klopp’s men trail sixth-placed Augsburg, who have a game in hand, by five points.
The 14th clash between the two giants of German football in the last three years, was a tense affair from the start. Neither side were able to find their usual game, with plenty of the play taking place in midfield and stoppage in the match from fouls.
Bayern did look the more comfortable, but failed to produce their usual quality going forward. Remnants of their 2-0 home defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach last time out seemed to be stuck in the mind.
It was not until 10 minutes before half-time that the first chance arrived, and it was duly taken by a determined Lewandowski.Thomas Muller’s shot was saved by Roman Weidenfeller, but the ball hung up in the air invitingly for Lewandowski to power in with a header.
The only thing lacking from the Pole, who inspired Borussia Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga titles prior to joining Bayern, was a celebration.
For Dortmund to succeed from that moment and pick up all three points was going to be tough – Bayern have not thrown away a lead to lose a game in the Bundesliga in 118 German top-flight matches.
Klopp’s men clearly weren’t aware of that statistic as they came out fast in the second half, urged on by the always brilliant Dortmund crowd.
Marco Reus had Dortmund’s first big chance of the game on the hour mark when he had only Manuel Neuer to beat, but he powered his shot into the side-netting.
Bayern couldn’t get out of their own half with Dortmund increasing the pressure, but it was Neuer who denied Reus with a strong one-armed save low down at his right-hand post as time ran out for Dortmund to level.
In the end the league leaders were too strong to break down and held on to pick up the three points.
Man of the match for this game was Robert Lewandowski, in a game of few chances the Bayern forward managed to shake off the emotions on his return to Dortmund to grab the only goal of the game.
