Sane fires record-breaking Bayern back to No.1 spot

A long-range Leroy Sane strike fired record-breaking Bayern Munich back to the top of the Bundesliga table on Saturday after the defending champions were briefly overtaken by Borussia Dortmund.

Sane’s goal sealed a 1-0 victory over strugglers Arminia Bielefeld, who kept Bayern at bay for the opening 70 minutes at the Allianz Arena.

It was another tricky domestic outing for Julian Nagelsmann’s team after a shock defeat at Augsburg in their previous league game.

But Sane netted for the ninth time this season as Bayern, chasing a 10th straight Bundesliga title, restored their one-point advantage over Dortmund, who they face away next Saturday.

“We were under a bit of pressure after Dortmund won earlier and we wanted to make sure we get on the bus there next weekend first in the table,” Nagelsmann told Sky.

Sane’s strike was Bayern’s 102nd league goal of 2021, breaking Cologne’s 44-year-old record for the most Bundesliga goals scored in a calendar year.

Bielefeld remain second-bottom in the table, four points from safety.

Dortmund had earlier gone top with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg when Erling Haaland scored on his return from injury.

The return of Haaland is a huge boost for Dortmund ahead of their showdown with Bayern.

Haaland netted his 50th Bundesliga goal in as many games, just eight minutes after coming off the bench in the second half following a five-week absence with a leg injury.

He tapped home a Julian Brandt cross, adding to an Emre Can penalty and Donyell Malen goal for Dortmund after Wout Weghorst had given Wolfsburg an early lead.

Third-placed Freiburg are now eight points adrift of second-placed Dortmund after their 2-1 defeat at Bochum handed the visitors a third straight league loss.

Serbian striker Milos Pantovic scored the winner eight minutes from time to ruin Christian Streich’s 300th Bundesliga game as Freiburg coach. AFP (Can 35-pen, Malen 55, Haaland 81); Hertha Berlin 1 (Richter 40) Augsburg 1 (Gregoritsch 90+7); Cologne 4 (Ljubicic 55, Uth 77, Duda 78, Andersson 90+3) Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 (Hofmann 74); VfL Bochum 2 (Polter 54, Pantovic 82) Freiburg 1 (Lienhart 51); Greuther Fuerth 3 (Leweling 22, Tillman 46, Hrgota 67) Hoffenheim 6 (Bebou 32, 62, Rutter 40, 57, Meyerhofer 66-og, Kramaric 80); Bayern Munich 1 (Sane 71) Arminia Bielefeld 0