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Bayern Munich beat Hamburg 2-1 in German Bundesliga

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Robert Lewandowski's brace helped Bayern Munich to edge resilient Hamburg 2-1 at the opener of the second half of the Bundesliga season on Friday.

The Bundesliga continues after the winterbreak and front-runners Bayern reaped their 16th win of the season at the 18th round meanwhile tenth placed Hamburg were unable to cause a sensation on home soil.

Hamburg staged a courageous performance from the kick-off giving the German giants a hard time in the first half. Josep Guardiola's men let the ball to the work but they failed to find a gap in Hamburg's well-positioned defence.

However, a moment of madness by Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler allowed the "Bavarians" to break the deadlock in the 37th minute. Adler underestimated a long ball into the box and brought down Thomas Mueller to cause a foul play penalty. Bayern's top striker Robert Lewandowski stepped up and slotted home into the bottom right to make it 1-0 on the scoreboards.

Bayern controlled the proceedings on the pitch after the restart but nonetheless Hamburg restored parity against the run of the game as Aaron Hunt's free kick into the box crossed the goal line untouched with eight minutes into the second half.

The Bundesliga front-runners remained unimpressed and responded in the 61st minute through Lewandowski, who redirected Mueller's shot on target to wrap up his brace and his 17th goal of the season.

The visitors continued to work out a number of goal scoring opportunities but Rene Adler was on guard to deny Bayern Munich a higher victory.

With the result, Bayern Munich extend their lead atop the standings to eleven point for now meanwhile Hamburg suffered their eighth loss of the season to stay on the 10th place.

The following fixtures are scheduled for the 18th round on Saturday: Cologne face Stuttgart, relegation threatened Hannover see newly promoted Darmstadt, third placed Berlin host Augsburg, bottom side Hoffenheim meet Leverkusen, newly promoted Ingolstadt visit Mainz and fourth placed Monchengladbach encounter with runner up Dortmund. Endit