Bayer Leverkusen, winner of Eintracht Frankfurt (3-0), and Bayern Munich, who beat Stuttgart by the same score, escaped on Sunday at the top of the German championship. With 39 points out of 45 possible, Xabi Alonso’s players retain their comfortable leadership position in the Bundesliga, still four points ahead of Bayern Munich.
The Munich residents, however, have a match in hand to play on January 24 at home against Union Berlin, a match on the 13th day which could not take place on December 2 due to snow. Behind, a hole is widening, even if Leipzig, winner on Saturday against Hoffenheim, keeps the pace of the duellists. Stuttgart, on the other hand, sees its delay in first place increase to eight points.
At the top of the 15th day of the Bundesliga, it was Harry Kane who scored Bayern’s first two goals, in the 2nd and 56th minutes. Uncertain because he is “a little unwell”, the English striker has already reached 20 goals in fourteen Bundesliga matches, as many as Gerd Müller at the same stage of the season in 1968-69 (the record), and one better than Robert Lewandowski during his record 2020-21 season (41 goals at the end of the year).
Manuel Neuer’s teammates had no dangerous situations to manage in the first 45 minutes and even found the net twice by Kim Min-jae (25th) and Thomas Müller (45th 2), goals disallowed for outside -game after viewing the video with the naked eye, because the electronic line was not working on Sunday in Munich.
For Kim, it was only a postponement, since on a corner from Aleksander Pavlovic in the 63rd minute, the South Korean central defender took the best of the head, scoring his first goal with Bayern. Bayern, deprived of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, both ill, missed several opportunities in the first half, on a counterattack from Leroy Sané who had to lose against Alexander Nübel (29th) or on a strike from Kane once again pushed back by Nübel (45th).
Thomas Tuchel’s men reacted perfectly after the slap conceded eight days ago on the pitch of Eintracht Frankfurt (5-1), Munich’s heaviest setback in the Bundesliga since November 2019 (already in Frankfurt at the time) .
Two hours before Bayern, Leverkusen had moved forward after two consecutive draws against Borussia Dortmund (1-1) and Stuttgart (1-1), winning on their lawn against Frankfurt (3-0), with a new offensive demonstration from Victor Boniface. The Nigerian striker first opened the scoring just before the quarter of an hour of play, benefiting from Florian Wirtz’s well-timed pass, and calls for the ball alongside him from Alex Grimaldo and Wirtz.
He was again involved in Leverkusen’s second goal (51st). Served by Exequiel Palacios, he forced Kevin Trapp to parry. The German international only pushed back inside six meters where Jeremie Frimpong only had to push the ball into the empty goal. Starting on the edge of offside, Wirtz finished the show in the 57th minute with a superb curling shot, while Leverkusen found Trapp’s posts twice in the last ten minutes through Wirtz and Piero Hincapie.
