Neuer happy for milestone-man Muller – and his ´weird´ celebrations

Manuel Neuer was full of praise for Thomas Muller and his “weird” celebrations after the Bayern Munich forward got a milestone goal in the 3-1 win at Greuther Furth.

Robert Lewandowski’s long goalscoring streak ended at 15 consecutive Bundesliga games – one short of Gerd Muller’s record – but the champions moved three points clear of Wolfsburg.

That is now 40 goals in their past eight matches for ruthless Bayern, who led 2-0 courtesy of great finishes from Muller and Kimmich at half-time.

Benjamin Pavard was given his marching orders for a professional foul on Jeremy Dudziak early in the second half, but a Sebastian Griesbeck own goal extended their lead.

Cedric Itten’s header in the closing stages was too little, too late for bottom side Furth in the Bavarian derby at Sportpark Ronhof on Friday.

Muller, who also scored the opener in recent victories over Barcelona and Hertha Berlin, is now on 218 goals for Bayern, one more than Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Neuer was delighted for his long-time team-mate, although he joked the forward could be summoned to a meeting with the former Bayern CEO after taking his place in the all-time list.

23 – Julian Nagelsmann has seen his team score 23 goals in his first six Bundesliga games in charge of FC Bayern, a new record for a new coach at a club after six BL matches. Dreamstart. #SGFFCB pic.twitter.com/bpe4onekTM

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) September 24, 2021

“He doesn’t get tired and has been around for a long time,” Neuer said, as per Bayern’s website.

“I’ve accompanied him for long stretches of this time, and I’m always happy about every one of Thomas’ goals and celebrations, which sometimes look a bit weird with him.

“I’m especially happy for him personally, because we’ve been playing together for a long time, but I think he’ll have to report to Kalle [Rummenigge] today.”

Bayern, who next face Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday, have started the season with eight consecutive victories under coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Neuer himself added: “It looks quite good. We scored three goals and showed a good attitude. In the first half, we didn’t make enough of it when we had space. We wasted a lot of chances. That’s annoying.

“Despite being a man down, we made it 3-0, which gives you a good feeling. Then we got in between the lines better, but sometimes we were too sloppy.

“It’s nitpicking really, but we can still play more flowing football. We’re happy with how it’s going, but we always have to take the next step and improve.”