Bayern Munich scored three consecutive victories for the first time since November, beating Bochum 3-0 at home in the Bundesliga on Saturday ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
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Bayern lacked early fluidity against a strong Bochum side, which has been revived since the arrival of manager Thomas Letsch.
However, the home side were gifted a goal at the end of the first half, when veteran striker Thomas Mueller pounced on a pass from Bochum defender Saidy Janko and scored his second goal in two games.
Bochum-born Bayern midfielder Leon Goretzka almost doubled the lead a minute before half-time, but fired wide from the front right.
Impressive French striker Kingsley Coman made it 2-0 in the 64th minute, while former Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry won and converted a penalty after just over 15 minutes to give his side a comfortable win.
Bayern, who started the season with three 1-1 draws, have now won three games on the trot ahead of Tuesday’s trip to face PSG in the Champions League.
Despite the win, frustrated Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann said his side must improve ahead of the PSG meeting.
“We played well in the first six minutes, after that we were not in the game,” he said.
“The replacement brings new momentum (but) we have to improve on Tuesday.”
Letsch said “our plan is to annoy (Bayern) well” but lamented “the annoying 0-1 due to our own mistakes … which unfortunately is not the first”.
Borussia Dortmund made it six from six in 2023, winning 2-0 at Bremen to move three points behind Bayern at the top of the table.
Dortmund lost striker Youssoufa Moukoko after 26 minutes following a heavy tackle and the youngster was substituted for Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller.
With the game scoreless after 66 minutes, Dortmund manager Edin Terzic brought on Jamie Bynoe-Gittens for youngster Gio Reyna and the change had an immediate impact, with the English youngster scoring a rocket just minutes later.
Germany midfielder Julian Brandt missed a chance to put Dortmund 2-0 up 10 minutes later, but got a second with six minutes remaining to seal the three points for the visitors.
Terzic credited the power of the bench for the win, saying that “the fact that the substitutes again scored is a testament to the quality of our balanced squad.”
– Leverkusen back on track –
Elsewhere, Stuttgart defender Dan-Axel Zagadou scored two second-half penalties to help Freiburg come from behind to win 2-1 at home, their second league win of 2023.
Stuttgart, sitting in 16th place and involved in a relegation dogfight, took an early lead through Chris Fuehrich to take a 1-0 lead at half-time, but Vincenzo Grifo scored twice from the spot to seal a come-from-behind victory.
Leverkusen returned to winning ways after two straight defeats with a thrilling 3-1 win at an attack-less Hoffenheim thanks to goals from Robert Andrich, Moussa Diaby and Adam Hlozek.
A double from South Korean midfielder Lee Jae-sung and a goal from Austrian striker Karim Onisiwo helped Mainz win 3-1 at home to Augsburg, who got on the scoresheet thanks to a first-half penalty from Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic.
In Saturday’s final game, Union Berlin have the chance to reclaim second place and cut Bayern’s lead to just one when they travel to RB Leipzig.