The 100th capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena for a Bayern home game saw the men in red move back to the top of the Bundesliga overnight with a hard-earned but ultimately clear-cut victory over promoted Mainz, as blizzard conditions engulfed Munich on Saturday afternoon.
The 69,000 full house at the magnificent stadium in the north of the city watched a first half totally dominated by the home side, but which ended goalless after Mario Gomez hit a post and Jörg Butt saw his penalty saved by visiting keeper Heinz Müller. Daniel van Buyten netted the long overdue opening goal just short of the hour mark, before Gomez doubled the advantage and wrapped up the points a quarter hour from time. Arjen Robben then iced the cake with his second direct free-kick stunner in as many games.
The win sees Bayern recover the lead in the standings on 42 points from 20 games, a point clear of Leverkusen and four ahead of Schalke, who entertain Freiburg and Hoffenheim respectively on Sunday.
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