Hamburger 1 - 2 Bayern Munich: Robert Lewandowski scores twice as Bayern Munich beat Hamburg

Posted Saturday, January 23, 2016 by PA

Bayern Munich pulled 11 points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Hamburg.

A Robert Lewandowski penalty gave Bayern the lead 10 minutes before half-time, but Aaron Hunt levelled for the hosts early in the second half.

Lewandowski's 17th goal of the season earned Bayern all three points as they took another step towards a record fourth straight Bundesliga title, getting 2016 off to a winning start at the Volksparkstadion.

Hamburg had the better of the opening exchanges, with Dennis Diekmeier's shot on the stretch from 20 yards almost earning him his first ever Bundesliga goal.

The game then turned when Rene Adler raced off his line and hacked down Thomas Muller just inside his area to give away a penalty.

Lewandowski stepped up to the penalty spot and, with Bayern's first shot on goal all night, gave Pep Guardiola's men the lead.

Bayern felt they should have been given another penalty before half-time but their protests were waved away as the hosts tried to regroup, but struggled to show the same verve as previous to the visitors' goal.

The half-time break appeared to do the home team good, however, and they levelled seven minutes into the second half with Hunt's curling free-kick going all the way through, past the lunges of Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Bayern's Xabi Alonso and beyond goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

It was Neuer who, stood on the halfway line, got Bayern's next attack going, and Lewandowski got the telling deflection on Muller's shot to put the visitors back in front less than 10 minutes later.

David Alaba hit the post as Bayern looked to turn the screw, but a third goal was not needed for the record German champions to get the new year off to a winning start and pull further away from Dortmund, who face Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.