Bundesliga Review: Muller leads Bayern charge

Bayern Munich recorded a 3-1 win over Darmstadt at the Allianz Arena courtesy of a second-half brace from Thomas Muller and one from Robert Lewandowski.

The reigning Bundesliga champions created several chances to open the scoring before the interval, but fell behind against the run of play when Sandro Wagner found the net against his former team.

Bayern never panicked, though, and Muller restored parity early in the second half after being set up by Rafinha, before scoring an acrobatic volley in the 71st minute to gift the hosts the lead.

Lewandowski then decided the match late on with a clinical finish as Franck Ribery capped his return from injury with an assist as Bayern moved 11 points clear of Borussia Dortmund, who are in action on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Mahmoud Dahoud’s goal earned Borussia Monchengladbach a 1-0 win over Cologne to bounce back from last week’s defeat at the hands of Hamburg.

Hertha Berlin, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Wolfsburg at the Olympiastadion as they continue to fight for Champions League qualification.

Marcel Schafer opened the scoring for the away side shortly after the break, but Salomon Kalou salvaged a draw for Hertha with his strike on the hour mark.

Hoffenheim recorded a vital 3-2 win over Mainz in their battle against relegation, their first victory since the 1-0 triumph over Hannover in December.

Jhon Cordoba broke the deadlock for Mainz in the 11th minute, but one from Nadiem Amiri and Mark Uth’s double meant Jairo’s reply was nothing more than consolation.

Elsewhere, Ingolstadt beat Werder Bremen 2-0 to move further away from the drop zone, courtesy of goals from Benjamin Hubner and Lukas Hinterseer.