Created on 23-01-2010 at 00:00 AM
Inspired by the effervescent Arjen Robben, Bayern moved back to the top of the Bundesliga overnight with a thrilling victory away to northern arch-rivals Werder Bremen. With better finishing, the Bavarians’ sixth win on the spin could easily have been more emphatic in a terrific encounter packed with incident and action.
The 38,500 full house at the Weserstadion saw a cracking first period in which Aaron Hunt opened for the home side, but Thomas Müller and Ivica Olic replied to hand the visitors a deserved half-time lead. Bayern’s lightning-quick counter-attacks produced a string of chances in the second period, but the men in red carelessly failed to wrap it up and Hugo Almeida netted a scarcely-merited equaliser quarter of an hour from time.
The Bavarians bounced straight back, the outstanding Robben looping a stunner of a free-kick over home keeper Tim Wiese to seal a crucial away win which was in truth considerably more clear-cut than the score suggests.
Thanks to Schalke conceding a stoppage-time equaliser away to Bochum, Bayern recover the lead in the standings on 39 points from 19 games, a point clear of both Leverkusen – who travel to Hoffenheim on Sunday – and Felix Magath’s men in third.