MY ACCOUNT
Manuel Neuer described Robert Lewandowski as a “machine” after the striker reached 300 Bundesliga goals with a hat-trick in Bayern Munich’s 4-0 win over Cologne.
The Poland star broke the deadlock on Saturday as Bayern became the first team in the history of the competition to score in 66 consecutive matches.
After Corentin Tolisso struck a fine second, Lewandowski delivered two more precise finishes following Leroy Sane throughballs to move the leaders six points clear.
The 33-year-old is just the second player in Bundesliga history to reach a treble century of goals, after Gerd Muller, who scored a record 365.
Last season, Lewandowski scored 42 times to break Muller’s record for goals in a single Bundesliga season, and he could now have the outright leading tally in his sights.
“After the defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach, it was just important for us to get our first points of the year, and that’s what we did,” Neuer told Sky Sport.
“We’re happy and grateful that we have Robert. He’s a machine up front.”
There was a curious moment after the match, when Neuer exchanged his shirt for the flat cap of Cologne head coach Steffen Baumgart.
“His cap is legendary!” he said.
The game was Bayern’s first since it was confirmed that full-back Alphonso Davies will have to sit out training after being diagnosed with inflammation of the heart.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann said the Canada international will be out of action for at least the next month.
“It could be that it goes away quickly, but it’s at least four weeks – and everything is possible for an indefinite amount of time,” he said prior to the match.
“If you suffer from something like this, you usually don’t notice it. You only notice that you’re not 100 per cent when you move.
“[It is important] that we do the examinations meticulously, and that’s how we diagnosed it. It’s important for him to heal, but it’s a shape because Alphonso had just come back.”
