Result: Bayern Munich 3-2 Paderborn
Date: 21 February 2020
Venue: Allianz Arena
Bayern Munich moved four points clear of at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-2 victory over Paderborn on Friday evening.
Bayern made four changes from their thumping win over Koln, as Philippe Coutinho and Corentin Tolisso were recalled while Real Madrid loanee Alvaro Odriozola was handed his debut alongside Lucas Hernandez.
After a relatively quiet opening, Hans Flick's charges eventually broke the deadlock in the 25th minute thanks to Serge Gnabry, who drilled home a strike into the bottom corner after he was teed up by Tolisso.
Lewandowski had a good chance to double Bayern's lead three minutes later after receiving a pin-point cross from Coutinho but the Polish striker headed straight to Paderborn goalkeeper Leopold Zingerle.
The Bavarians were creating plenty of chances in the latter phase of the first stanza but were not clinical enough and they were punished on the stroke of half-time as Dennis Srbeny levelled matters for Paderborn with a strike into an empty net.
Paderborn almost went to the break a goal behind after Christian Strohdiek diverted Tolisso's cross towards his own goal in first-half stoppage time but his effort ricocheted off the crossbar.
The game was opening up early in the second stanza but Bayern were the more threatening, as Lewandowski was twice denied by Zingerle inside the opening ten minutes from the break.
Flick made a double change in the 63rd minute after bringing on forward Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman in place of midfielder Coutinho and Odriozola as the hosts went in search of the go-ahead goal.
The changes affected the game in a positive way for Bayern, as Lewandowski restored the home side's lead with 20 minutes left with a simple tap-in after a cut-back from Gnabry following a quick counter-attack.
However, Paderborn found the equaliser once again five minutes after Bayern took the lead as Sven Michel tapped home into a gaping net after Neuer could only parried Dennis Jastrzembski's initial shot.
The Bavarians were piling the pressure on the visitors in the closing minutes, which eventually resulted in a goal, with Lewandowski snatching the lead in the last two minutes with his second goal of the night to seal three points for Bayern.
