MUNICH: Robert Lewandowski scored late for leaders Bayern Munich to get a head start on their Bundesliga rivals after a hard-fought 3-2 win over bottom side Paderborn on Friday.

The Polish striker scored twice and took his league-leading tally to 25 with the winning goal in the 88th minute, set up like his previous goal by Serge Gnabry, who scored the opener in the 25th.

Bayern (49) stretched their lead to four points ahead of the rest of the 23rd round, with rivals Leipzig (45), Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mnchengladbach (42 each) all playing on Saturday.

The visitors were first to have the ball in the net, but Paderborn striker Streli Mamba was clearly offside and the linesman waited before raising his flag to rule out his third-minute goal.

Paderborn defended well, keeping Bayern at bay until Gnabry found a way through with two touches after Lewandowski persevered to win the ball back in the 25th.

A mistake from Manuel Neuer allowed Dennis Srbeny to equalise a minute before the break. The Bayern goalkeeper emerged from goal in typical fashion but failed to clear and Srbeny eluded three helpless defenders before shooting to the unguarded net.

Lewandowski restored Bayern’s lead in the 70th, finishing off a Gnabry cross.

Sven Michel equalised five minutes later, from a rebound after Neuer deflected Dennis Jastrzembski’s effort to his feet. But Lewandowski had the last say to keep Bayern’s title charge going.

Paderborn remained six points from safety.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2020