Bayern leads by 6 points as Heynckes extends winning run
BERLIN (AP) - Robert Lewandowski scored twice to help Bayern Munich stretch its lead in the Bundesliga to six points with a 3-0 defeat of Bavarian rival Augsburg on Saturday.
It was the 500th league win for Jupp Heynckes as a player or coach and extends the 72-year-old's winning start to eight games across all competitions since he returned for his fourth stint.
"That's a surprise for me. I don't bother with statistics and numbers," Heynckes said on being told about his winning landmark. "But it's an impressive number (500). I had a long career as a player, and now as a coach. It wasn't planned."
Heynckes was coaxed out of retirement to take over from the fired Carlo Ancelotti on Oct. 5. Bayern was trailing then-leader Borussia Dortmund by five points at the time. Now the side is nine points ahead of Dortmund, which hasn't won in the league since Sept. 30, and six ahead of Leipzig, held to a draw at Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal broke the deadlock after half an hour, swiveling to fire home the rebound from a difficult angle after Mats Hummels's effort was blocked and the ball ricocheted off Niklas Suele.
Vidal turned provider seven minutes later, playing Lewandowski through on a counterattack to shoot past Marwin Hitz.
The Poland striker claimed his league-leading 13th goal of the season early in the second half with a perfectly struck volley to Joshua Kimmich's precise long cross from the right.
Vidal headed against the crossbar just afterward before Bayern conserved energy for Wednesday's Champions League game at Anderlecht.
The win stretched the side's unbeaten record to 28 games at home.
MORE VIDEO CONTROVERSY
Winless Cologne's terrible start to the league continued with its 10th defeat in 12 games, while the discussion over video assistance in the league will continue after two mistakes by referee Felix Brych.
Daniel Brosinski's penalty before the break was enough for a 1-0 win for Mainz against Cologne, but how it came about will ensure the controversy over video assistance goes on.
Brych pointed to the spot when Pablo De Blasis fell under Frederik Sorensen's challenge. He then consulted the video assistant, who had the benefit of studying replays in Cologne, and stood by the decision - despite television showing that Sorensen made hardly any contact with the Mainz player.
Brych later sent off Mainz's Giulio Donati for what he perceived as striking Leon Bittencourt after a tussle between the two. However, Bittencourt's foot struck Donati in the face beforehand. Donati, who was lying on the pitch clutching his face, brushed the Cologne player away when he went to lift him up.
Following controversial decisions in previous games, the German soccer federation said video assistants were only to step in when there was "a clear wrong decision."
VOLLAND HALTS LEIPZIG
Ten-man Leverkusen came from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw at home against second-place Leipzig.
Timo Werner's early penalty put the visitors in front before Leon Bailey equalized before the break.
The home side's hopes took a blow when Benjamin Henrichs was sent off for handball on the line and Emil Forsberg scored the resulting penalty, but Kevin Volland equalized again with a quarter-hour remaining.
EIGHTH TIME LUCKY
Wolfsburg defeated Freiburg 3-1 at home to give coach Martin Schmidt his first win after he started with seven draws.
On loan from Bayern, Serge Gnabry did brilliantly to set up Mark Uth for Hoffenheim's injury-time equalizer in a 1-1 draw with visiting Eintracht Frankfurt.
Hertha Berlin was hosting Borussia Moenchengladbach for the late game.