Pro Sports

Lewandowski's penalty keeps Bayern 4 points clear of Leipzig

Posted January 20, 2021 6:00 am

By CIARÃN FAHEY

Union's Julian Ryerson, left, and Leipzig's Angelino challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and 1. FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) - Robert Lewandowski's penalty was enough for Bayern Munich to consolidate its Bundesliga lead at the halfway stage of the season with a 1-0 win at Bavarian rival Augsburg on Wednesday.

Lewandowski's spot kick in the 13th minute was Bayern's only reward for dominating the first half, while the visitors had to hold on in the second with Augsburg missing a host of chances - including a penalty of its own.

Lewandowski scored his 22nd goal of the season '“ a league record after 17 games '“ from the spot after a foul from Augsburg midfielder Rani Khedira on Lucas HernÃ¡ndez.

Serge Gnabry and Thomas MÃ¼ller both missed chances before the break, when Khedira made way for Tobias Strobl.

Bayern coach Hansi Flick took Lewandowski off as a precaution in the 67th after he 'œfelt something'ť in the back of his leg.

'œRobert is extremely important for us. We didn't want to take any risks,'ť Flick said.

Augsburg improved significantly in the second half but missed a great chance to equalize when Alfred Finnbogason '“ who had only come on as a substitute a couple of minutes before '“ smashed his penalty off the left post in the 76th. Benjamin Pavard conceded the spot kick for handball.

'œVery bitter,'ť Finnbogason said of his miss.

Another Augsburg substitute, Fredrik Jensen, shot over from another good position shortly afterward.

UNION BEATEN

Bayern stayed four points clear of Leipzig, which earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Union Berlin thanks to Emil Forsberg's 70th-minute strike.

Forsberg had come on as a substitute 10 minutes before and capitalized on a rare lapse from Union's defense to turn and score past Andreas Luthe.

Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi denied Marius BÃ¼lter an injury-time equalizer as Union failed to score for the first time in the league this season.

Union dropped to sixth place after its first defeat in seven games since losing the Berlin derby 3-1 at Hertha on Dec. 4.

BIELEFELD RELIEF

Arminia Bielefeld defeated Stuttgart 3-0 at home to stay out of the relegation zone after Cologne's late 2-1 win at last-place Schalke earlier Wednesday. Cologne remained 16th in the 18-team division with Bielefeld two points clear in 15th.

Also, Eintracht Frankfurt came back to draw 2-2 at Freiburg.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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CiarÃ¡n Fahey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfaheyAP

Union's Robert Andrich, left, and Leipzig's Kevin Kampl challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and 1. FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press

Union's Robert Andrich, left, and Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and 1. FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press

RB Leipzig players ahead the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and 1. FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press

Union's head coach Urs Fischer speaks to media ahead the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and 1. FC Union Berlin in Leipzig, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The Associated Press

Schalke's Benjamin Stambouli, left and Cologne's Jonas Hector fight for the ball, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Schalke and Cologne, at Veltins-Arena, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP) The Associated Press

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