Bayern Munich have many reasons to thank Robert Lewandowski. On Friday, the striker was once again the hero for the Bundesliga champions with two goals to bring them from behind and ensure they started 2017 with a victory.
Last-minute Lewandowski earns win
The Poland star's double over Freiburg on Friday ensured that Bayern have won their last 39 Bundesliga matches in which he has scored.
Furthermore, Opta says that, with his 134th and 135th goals in the German top flight, he left Giovane Elber behind him (on 133) in the list of the highest scoring foreigners in the league. Claudio Pizarro's 190 goals means he is the only foreign player to score more goals than Lewandowski.
The fun did not stop there for Bayern, though. Franck Ribery set up Lewandowski for his sixth assist in the league this season, which is already twice as many as he recorded last term, despite playing one less game so far this term.
On the other hand, the 42 points Bayern have amassed after 17 games is their worst tally after the first half of a season since 2012-13, in which they also collected 42. However, that was the year they won the treble.
Janik Haberer's goal in the fourth minute was the first Bayern have conceded in 449 minutes of play across all competitions – back then Jhon Cordoba of Mainz also scored four minutes in.