MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) -Champions Bayern Munich bounced back from a goal down and struck four times in a powerful first half against Augsburg en route to a 5-3 victory in the Bavarian derby on Saturday to go provisionally three points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Fresh from Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 victory over Paris St Germain, Bayern suffered an early shock when the visitors went in front through Mergim Berisha after two minutes.
Despite the injury absence of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, on target against PSG, Bayern had little trouble scoring.
“We did our work today. I am satisfied,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann. “We played really well for 30 minutes (in the first half). Then we eased off after the break a bit, we did not pressure too much… so the game was a bit more open.
“We created chances and could have scored more goals. The result shows how we played. We played well in attack, not so well at times defensively because three goals are too many.”
“But the most important thing today was to get the three points after the Champions League game and we did it,” added Nagelsmann.
Joao Cancelo’s 15th-minute shot cancelled out Augsburg’s lead and the Bavarians struck three more times before the break with defender Benjamin Pavard netting twice and Leroy Sane heading in their fourth goal from close range on the stroke of halftime.
Augsburg recovered after the break and pulled a goal back with Berisha’s penalty on the hour but unmarked Alphonso Davies tapped in at the far post to make it 5-2 and restore Bayern’s three-goal lead.
Augsburg capped an entertaining afternoon with a stoppage time goal from Irvin Cardona.
The Bavarians, chasing a record-extending 11th straight league crown, are now on 52 points with Borussia Dortmund, in second place on 49, facing Schalke 04 in the Ruhr valley derby later on Saturday. RB Leipzig moved up to third on 45 after their 3-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Toby Davis)
