Created on 03-12-2011 at 00:00 AM
Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery both hit doubles as Bayern finally overcame Werder Bremen at home in the league for the first time since 2005, reclaiming top spot in the Bundesliga for good measure on an incident-filled afternoon in Munich.
The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw the home side start aggressively and take a deserved lead midway through the first half, Ribery expertly netting his seventh league goal of term. Jupp Heynckes’ side remained in the ascendant and coolly blunted Werder’s low-key attempt at a response, but sub Markus Rosenberg equalised completely against the run of play just seven minutes after the restart.
Bayern were not to be contained and sub Robben restored the lead from the spot 20 minutes from time. With the men in green committed to attack, Ribery doubled his tally on the break, before Aaron Hunt saw a straight red card for a studs-up horror tackle on Toni Kroos, and Robben put away another penalty to round off an ultimately resounding victory.
The result, combined with the 1-1 draw between Dortmund and Mönchengladbach, sees FCB regain the lead in the Bundesliga after 15 matches on 31 points, one ahead of the two Borussia and now five clear of Werder in fourth. The Bavarians now complete their Champions League group stage fixtures away to Manchester City on Wednesday, before contesting the latest edition of the long-running South German derby away to VfB Stuttgart at 5.30 pm next Sunday.