Late Lewandowski strike saves Bayern in Berlin

Robert Lewandowski hit a 96th-minute equaliser as Bayern Munich salvaged a 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin and extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to eight points yesterday.
 Bayern were seconds away from only their second league defeat this season when Lewandowski fired home his 24th goal in all competitions to cancel out Vedad Ibisevic’s first-half strike at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
 It was a Champions League hangover for Bayern following Wednesday’s 5-1 hammering of Arsenal in the last 16 first leg, despite coach Carlo Ancelotti making four changes to the side that beat the Gunners.
 Hertha went ahead on 21 minutes when Ibisevic ghosted in behind Bayern’s defence and deflected Marvin Plattenhardt’s free-kick past Manuel Neuer.
 Despite enjoying more than 70% possession, Bayern struggled and Lewandowski’s equaliser only came deep into added time. Thiago Alcantara’s free-kick found Ajren Robben on the edge of the area, his shot was blocked, but Lewandowski drilled home the rebound to deny Hertha a first win over Bayern in 12 attempts.
 Second-placed RB Leipzig can close the gap behind Bayern when they play Borussia Moenchengladbach away today.
 Elsewhere, Lukasz Piszczek had a hand in all three goals as Borussia Dortmund bounced back from Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first-leg defeat at Benfica with a 3-0 trouncing of Wolfsburg at home.
 Dortmund’s iconic south stand, nicknamed the ‘Gelbe Wand’ (Yellow Wall), which holds 25,000 fans, stood empty. It was a German FA punishment after hooligans attacked visiting RB Leipzig fans, including families, earlier this month.
 Dortmund went ahead when Wolfsburg defender Jeffrey Bruma headed Piszczek’s close-range cross into his own net on 20 minutes. Poland international Piszczek added the second, heading home Ousmane Dembele’s cross on 48 minutes, and then set up Dembele for the third on 59 minutes.
 Hoffenheim climbed to fourth with a 2-0 win at home to bottom side Darmstadt as ex-Leicester City striker Andrej Kramaric scored both their goals.
 Ten-man Eintracht Frankfurt dropped to fifth after their shock 2-0 defeat to strugglers Ingolstadt, who had Australia striker Mathew Leckie sent off and remain second from bottom.
 Ingolstadt took an early lead through French defender Romain Bregerie while Frankfurt finished the first half with 10 men. Defender David Abraham was shown a red card when his clearance kick connected with Dario Lezcano’s chest on 35 minutes.
 Frakfurt’s Japan midfielder Makoto Hasebe had a second-half penalty saved, then hit the crossbar from the follow-up, and Pascal Gross scored Ingolstadt’s second goal from a penalty at the other end 13 minutes later. Ingolstadt also played with a man less for the last 10 minutes after Leckie was shown a straight red for a similar foul to Abraham — accidentally kicking an opponent.
 Relegation-threatened Werder Bremen escaped the bottom three with a 2-0 win at Mainz. Ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry gave Bremen the lead with a towering header on 16 minutes before Denmark international Thomas Delaney slammed home a free-kick to double the lead seven minutes later.
 On Friday, Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez was on target twice as Bayer Leverkusen warmed up for their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid by winning 3-1 at Augsburg. Roger Schmidt’s side went in front midway through the first half when Kai Havertz squared from the right for Karim Bellarabi to score the 50,000th goal in the history of the Bundesliga.
 Chicharito doubled Leverkusen’s lead from close range after a lovely move inside the box five minutes before half-time, and after Dominik Kohr pulled a goal back on the hour, the Mexican striker netted again from another Havertz assist to secure the win.
 Leverkusen are having an inconsistent season but a second consecutive win keeps them in touch in the fight for European places and boosts confidence ahead of their Champions League last 16, first leg at home to Atletico on Tuesday. Chicharito scored the winner for Real Madrid when they eliminated Atletico in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2015.