BLBL2VBL
menu
Thomas Müller was on target twice for FC Bayern München on Matchday 3 - © © gettyimages / Bongarts
Thomas Müller was on target twice for FC Bayern München on Matchday 3 - © © gettyimages / Bongarts

Müller shines as Bayern beat Leverkusen

xwhatsappmailcopy-link

Munich - FC Bayern München maintained their perfect start to the 2015/16 season with a 3-0 victory at home to Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday evening.

Talking point

The match began at a furious pace as the visitors employed their customary pressing game, denying Bayern time to build from the back. Gradually, however, Pep Guardiola’s charges settled into a rhythm and took the lead when Thomas Müller scored following excellent build-up play from Douglas Costa. At the other end of the pitch Hakan Calhanoglu almost equalised, only to see his wicked long-range free-kick hit the crossbar.

The guests tired as the match wore on and Bayern took full advantage. Defender Roberto Hilbert gave away two penalties, which Müller and then Arjen Robben stepped up to score. Karim Bellarabi was the liveliest Leverkusen attacker, but he was unable to find a way through as Bayern turned the screw in the closing period and had several chances to increase their lead.

It was a disciplined display from Bayern as a whole but one man in particular made the difference: Costa. The Brazilian tormented Hilbert all evening and set up the hosts’ all-important opener with a sumptuous piece of control to take him past his marker before crossing for Müller to score. The newcomer now has two assists and one goal from his first three Bundesliga outings.

Man of the Match

As career milestones go, making a 200th Bundesliga appearance is a significant one. Müller passed that landmark in this game and duly marked the occasion by scoring his 75th and 76th top-flight goals, taking him top of the scoring charts for 2015/16 on five for the season so far.

Stats of the match

- For the first time ever in his career, Müller has scored in the first three games of a Bundesliga season.

- Robben's penalty was the 301st spot-kick Bayern have been awarded in Bundesliga history – a league record. They have scored 235 of them (78 per cent).

- Müller has netted nine of the ten Bundesliga penalties he has taken. It was also the 15th time the Germany international has scored two or more goals in a single league match.