Bayern Munich 3-0 Bochum: Muller on target in landmark appearance

Thomas Muller marked a record-breaking appearance for Bayern Munich with the opener in the champions’ 3-0 win over Bochum on Saturday.

Muller’s 428th league outing for Bayern took him clear of Gerd Muller as the outfield player with the most Bundesliga appearances for the club, with just goalkeepers Sepp Maier (473) and Oliver Kahn (429) now standing between him and the outright club record.

The 33-year-old, who was taken off at half-time after sustaining an injury, gave Bayern the lead in the 41st minute, before Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry’s penalty sealed all three points in the second half.

The result moved Bayern three points clear at the league summit, although Union Berlin can move back to within a point with victory over RB Leipzig in Saturday’s late game.

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Bayern went close to opening the scoring in the 15th minute when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s back-post header from Joao Cancelo’s cross clipped the outside of the post.

The hosts were gifted the opener four minutes before the interval when Muller latched onto Saidy Janko’s short backpass and rolled into an empty net after he had initially been thwarted by Manuel Riemann.

It should have been 2-0 before half-time, yet Leon Goretzka inexplicably headed wide from inside the six-yard box after Riemann had kept out Matthijs de Ligt’s header.

Bayern did grab a second in the 64th minute when Coman, who had replaced Cancelo four minutes earlier, powered through the legs of Riemann after being played in by Jamal Musiala.

Janko’s dismal display reached a new low in the 73rd minute when he tripped Gnabry in the area, with the Germany international slotting home a third from the resulting spot-kick.

What does it mean? Bayern inflict more away-day misery on Bochum

Bayern were far from their best against a side they beat 7-0 earlier in the season, but a routine win extended their unbeaten run in the league to 13 games and cranked the pressure up on Union Berlin.

Bochum, meanwhile, have now lost 10 of their 11 Bundesliga away games this season. The last time they suffered this many defeats on the road at this stage of a campaign was in the 1992-93 season when they were relegated.

Gnabry excels

Gnabry was a handful throughout for Bochum’s defenders and deservedly got on the scoresheet late on. The winger had more touches (104) and shots (six) than any other player on the pitch, while his tally of eight crosses was not bettered by anyone from either side.

Janko’s nightmare

There cannot have been many worse individual displays in the Bundesliga this season than Janko’s here. The 27-year-old gifted Muller the opener with a woeful backpass, before bringing down Gnabry to give referee Matthias Jollenbeck one of the easiest penalty decisions he will ever make.

What’s next?

Bayern visit Paris Saint-Germain for the first leg of their mouth-watering Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, before a trip to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday – the same day Bochum host Freiburg.