Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund 0-3 Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich picked up a superb victory this evening at the Signal Iduna Park, defeating arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund 3-0. Former Dortmund man Mario Gotze opened the scoring with a class finish, before Arjen Robben later added a second with a brilliant chip. Thomas Muller sealed the game late on after some great build-up play, leaving Dortmund off the pace in the Bundesliga. The big news before kick-off was Mario Gotze, who started on the bench as his Bayern side faced his former employers. When the team sheets were announced there was a surprise in the form of Manuel Friedrich in the heart of defence, after only being signed as an emergency transfer last week. The new-look defence looked shaky in the early stages but soon settled into the match as the home side were surged on by the yellow wall. Lewandowski had an early chance but he blazed his shot over the bar and wasted a golden opportunity to start the game in perfect fashion. Brilliant play from Dortmund saw Grosskreutz burst down the right-hand side but his inviting cross was snatched up by Manuel Neuer before Marco Reus could reach it. Marco Reus later fired a shot straight at Neuer as the home-side pressed for the opening goal but the visitors weren't sitting back. Arjen Robben burst forward and delivered a ball into the box that Mandzukic was inches from putting it past the keeper. As the sides went into the interval the game was still wide open. Lewandowski should've put Dortmund ahead in the early stages of the game and the home side would have been pleased with the opening 45 minutes. After the restart, Lewandowski again had the first chance but he couldn't quite connect with Bender's superb chip-forward. On the bench, Mario Gotze began to warm-up and a hostile reception awaited, which he received when he replaced Mandzukic with over half an hour remaining. Boateng showed his defensive prowess as he reached the ball before the dangerous Marco Reus and hooked it away, before he was replaced by Thiago. The opening goal came ten minutes after Gotze's introduction and it was the former-Dortmund man that got it. He controlled the pass from Thomas Muller and superbly struck the ball into the net. A class finish from a class player and it left the home fans silent. A few minutes later Mkhitaryan should've scored the equaliser. He juggled the ball and it took a while to come down, when it did he could only fire the ball wide of the goal under pressure from Martinez. The home side then had another golden opportunity to pull level when Lewandowski back-heeled the ball to Marco Reus, who fired a low at the bottom corner of the net but saw Neuer pull off a brilliant save to deny him. As Dortmund pressed for an equaliser they appealed for a free-kick, which wasn't given, and Bayern hit them on the counter. The long ball forward found Arjen Robben and he burst through on goal, flicking the ball over Weidenfeller exquisitly to double the visitors advantage. That goal hit Dortmund hard and it got worse for them minutes later as Bayern grabbed a third. Brilliant one-touch play involving Robben, Gotze and Lahm presented Bayern with the opportunity, with Lahm cutting the ball across to Thomas Muller who put the ball past the keeper. The win for Bayern extends their lead at the top of the Bundesliga, while Dortmund fall further behind and remain in third place.