Another Lewandowski double helps Bayern down Augsburg

Robert Lewandowski got his fourth brace in five games yesterday as Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich overcame the latest Holger Badstuber injury shock with a 3-1 victory at Bavarian rivals Augsburg. Lewandowski was on target in the 15th minute and 64th as he moved past Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to the top of the scorers’ chart with 21 goals. Thomas Mueller got the third for a season tally of 15, the first man apart from Lewandowski to score for them since the January restart; and Raul Bobadilla a late consolation goal. Lewandowski has six of Bayern’s seven goals in the period, and also struck twice in a 3-0 cup win at second tier VfL Bochum in mid-week.  Victory came a day after Badstuber broke his ankle in training for his fourth major injury since December 2012. He is the third sidelined central defender, joining Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez. Bayern players wore t-shirts with the writing “We are with you, you will make it again” in honour of Badstuber before the game, and fans unfurled banners saying “always continue, never give up Holger.” The defensive crisis could undermine Bayern’s ambitions to get a title treble, but in the Bundesliga they remain eight points clear of Dortmund who won 1-0 against bottom side Hanover Saturday. Augsburg are 14th. SV Hamburg rose to 11th and six points away from the danger zone with a first win in seven games in the other Sunday game, 3-2 against number seven Borussia Moenchengladbach who lost for the third time in their four 2016 games. Augsburg meanwhile caused two of Bayern’s eight league defeats under Guardiola and only lost the first season meeting on a last minute disputed penalty. But on a rainy Sunday they created little danger against Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba, chosen as central defenders by coach Pep Guardiola. Munich took the lead on their first big opportunity, Mueller feeding Lewandowski who turned around two defenders and fired home into the left corner. Lewandowski got the one-on-one against goalkeeper Marwin Hitz after a defence-splitting pass from Thiago, and Douglas Costa then set up Mueller for the third with 12 minutes left. In Hamburg, Josip Drmic, on loan from Gladbach to the hosts since last month, aimed right at goalkeeper Yann Sommer from a promising position but that in fact set up the opening goal at the other end some 20 seconds later, Fabian Johnson tapping home in the 14th. But Gladbach allowed the hosts back into the game with poor defending. Martin Hinteregger deflected a speculative shot from Gideon Jung into the net in the 38th after they failed to clear in the area; Artjoms Rudnevs was given space after a long clearance from goalkeeper Rene Adler three minutes later; and Ivo Ilicevic, back after a club suspension over a training bust-up, was allowed an unmarked header for the third in the 80th. Raffael’s got a late Gladbach second. “That was a deserved victory. We showed a lot of passion. That’s exactly how we have to present ourselves,” Hamburg midfielder Aaron Hunt said.Results: Hamburger SV 3-2 Borussia M.Gladbach, Augsburg 1-3 Bayern Munich