Lewandowski nets 250th Bundesliga goal as Bayern keep pace with Leverkusen

Berlin (AFP) – Robert Lewandowski passed the milestone of 250 Bundesliga goals on Wednesday with both goals in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 home win over Wolfsburg to keep the European champions in touch with German league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

Lewandowski, who finds out Thursday whether he has been voted FIFA’s player of the year having been shortlisted alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, has scored 18 goals in 17 games for Bayern this season in all competitions.

“I haven’t thought about it (the awards), I was just focused on this game – I’m pretty relaxed about it, let’s see what happens,” he told Sky after his two goals.

Leverkusen, who host Bayern in Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash, remain first in the table – a point ahead of Munich – after a 4-0 romp away to Cologne in the Rhineland derby.

Wolfsburg took a shock lead within five minutes at the Allianz Arena when Leroy Sane’s error on the edge of the area led to Maximilian Philipp smashing home the loose ball.

Wolfsburg’s Dutch striker Wout Weghorst then had a goal ruled offside on 17 minutes.

However, Lewandowski reached the 250-goal milestone when he headed Bayern’s equaliser just before the break.

He became only the third to achieve the feat alongside Bayern legend Gerd Mueller and Schalke striker Klaus Fischer.

Lewandowski then fired the winner into the bottom corner of the net on 50 minutes.

He has now claimed 23 goals in 20 league matches against Wolfsburg.

Wolfsburg suffered their first league defeat this season as Bayern got back to winning ways after drawing their two previous league games.

In Cologne, Leverkusen remain the league’s only unbeaten team after racing into a 2-0 lead on ten minutes thanks to goals by Mitchell Weiser and Moussa Diaby.

Czech striker Patrik Schick added Leverkusen’s third early in the second half when he buried Diaby’s cross before former Cologne player Florian Wirtz grabbed the visitor’s fourth.

Things remain tight at the top of the table as third-placed RB Leipzig stayed level on 28 points with Bayern with a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim thanks to Yussuf Poulsen’s second-half winner.

Schalke 04 are three short of matching an unwanted Bundesliga record after their 2-0 home defeat against Freiburg left the league’s bottom side without a win in their last 28 games.

“We lose hope too quickly. We must have more belief,” Schalke defender Benjamin Stambouli told Sky.

Schalke are closing in fast on the record, held by Tasmania Berlin who in their one Bundesliga season, went 31 matches without winning in 1965/66.

Schalke coach Manuel Baum, who took charge in September after predecessor David Wagner was fired, already has the unwanted club record of being winless in his first 10 games. 

Freiburg winger Roland Sallai headed the visitors ahead after 50 minutes behind closed doors in Gelsenkirchen, then added a second 18 minutes later when he chipped home a perfectly-timed pass.

Having only ended their own nine-match winless streak on Saturday with a 2-0 home victory against Arminia Bielefeld, Freiburg are up to 10th in the table.

Schalke have now not won a game since January.

With a third of the season gone, they are six points from safety and on course for relegation after 30 unbroken seasons in Germany’s top tier.

This Saturday, Schalke have their next chance to end their miserable run at home to Bielefeld, who remain in the bottom three after Wednesday’s 1-0 home defeat to Augbsurg.