Munich, Feb. 6 (BNA): Bayern Munich held on despite Joshua Kimmich’s sending off to beat Wolfsburg 4-2 and return to the top of the Bundesliga.
Kimmich was sent off with his second yellow card in the 54th minute but Wolfsburg couldn’t account for their dominance as the visitors delivered a lesson in efficiency, the AP reports.
Kingsley Coman scored twice and Thomas Mueller and Jamal Musiala added two while Bayern needed goalkeeper Jan Sommer at his best to secure their first Bundesliga win this year.
“The result was important and the victory is important above all,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “We were very careless after the third goal, not focused enough and allowed too much. But we can look forward with these three points.”
It was enough for Bayern to go back one point away from Union Berlin.
Wolfsburg scored 22 shots on goal, compared to nine for the 10-time champions.
Wolfsburg pressed from the start, but Bayern scored the first goal in the ninth minute, when Koeman’s pass to Mueller skipped everyone and crept into the far post.
Koeman is not finished. The France winger met Joao Cancelo’s cross with a volley for 2-0 five minutes later, just after Wolfsburg had squandered a brilliant chance to equalise.
Müller, who was making his 427th Bayern appearance to equal Gerd Müller’s record, celebrated, heading in Kimmich’s free-kick to seal Bayern’s third place in just 19 minutes.
Despite the goals, Wolfsburg remained competitive and deserved the difference through Jakub Kaminski before the break.
And the home team pressed for more in the second half, wasting two good chances before Kimmich was sent off with his second yellow card for a foul on Maximilian Arnold.
Wolfsburg enjoyed more possession but failed to capitalize before Musiala snatched Bayern’s fourth with a brilliant solo goal in the 73rd minute.
Matthias Svanberg pulled it back for Wolfsburg in the 81st minute and Yannick Gerhardt thought he had made it 4-3 three minutes later, only to see the goal disallowed by the video assistant referee for an apparent mistake in the reinforcements.
Earlier, Werder Bremen sealed a 2-0 win at Stuttgart with second-half goals from Jens Stage and Marvin Ducksch as the visitors secured their second successive win.
It raised promoted Bremen to eighth place, while VfB Stuttgart slipped back into the relegation zone. Stuttgart have not won a match since mid-November.