Lewy the hero as Reds overcome Wolfsburg

FC Bayern beat VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 on Wednesday evening. Maximilian Philipp put the Wolves ahead after five minutes, but Robert Lewandowski equalised before half-time and rounded off his brace shortly after the restart, Bayern staying hot on the heels of Bayer Leverkusen before Saturday's top-of-the-table clash.

The Bavarians started with Manuel Neuer in goal and Niklas Süle, Jérôme Boateng, David Alaba and Lucas Hernández in a back four. Corentin Tolisso anchored a midfield featuring Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané, with hitman Lewandowski up front. Marc Roca and Jamal Musiala took over from Tolisso and Gnabry with 20 minutes to go, Dougals Costa coming on for Sané in the closing stages.

Early shock, milestone for Lewy

The first chance fell to Bayern, Süle heading over from a corner, but the away side took the lead when Philipp headed in from a Kevin Mbabu cross. Josip Brekalo fired over the bar before Wout Weghorst had the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman had his flag raised for offside.

Bayern upped the ante now, Lewandowski and Gnabry seeing efforts blocked, although Alaba soon made a crucial block against Philipp on the other side. Sané fired wide, but Lewandowski levelled the scores with the half-time whistle imminent, rising high to head in a Coman cross, his 250th Bundesliga goal.

Lewy seals it, Neuer shines

Lewandowski put Munich ahead early in the second half, Boateng's perceptive through-ball finding the Pole, who fired into the far corner of the net. Philipp warmed Neuer's gloves, but chances proved few and far between now, Coman seeing an effort deflected wide.

Wolfsburg went looking for an equaliser in the closing stages, and Bayern had Manuel Neuer to thank for preserving the lead, the keeper making two fine saves against Bartosz Bialek with five minutes to go. Bayern saw out the storm and sealed three points.

The result means the German record champions have 27 points from 12 matches, one short of Leverkusen, who beat Köln 4-0. Bayern will be back in action on Saturday, when they travel to face Leverkusen in the Bundesliga top clash.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen