On Matchday 16 of the Bundesliga, FC Bayern Munich were hosted by Stuttgart in what turned into an absolute goal-fest. The Bavarians were able to put up five goals to further extend their lead at the top of the table. Here are my top player performances from Bayern’s 5-0 win over Stuttgart.
Niklas Sule
This game was an excellent display of defensive lockdown for Niklas Sule. He played the largest part in keeping Bayern’s clean sheet, forcing Stuttgart away from goal (allowing only one shot to reach Manuel Neuer). Sule’s big presence at the back drove most of Stuttgart’s offensive traffic away from the center of their defensive third.
On the offensive end, he started the drive which led to Bayern’s first goal of the game. Sule’s long ball played to Leroy Sane opened up a world of space in the middle of the pitch for him to run forward and play the ball to Gnabry for the score. All in all, this was Niklas Sule’s performance of the season.
Robert Lewandowski
Robert Lewandowski capped off this game with two great goals, tying Bayern legend Gerd Muller’s record for Most Goals in a Calendar Year. After a relatively quiet first half for Lewandowski, he opened up a goal-fest in the second, scoring twice in a span of three minutes.
The first of which was a brilliant chip over Stuttgart goalie Florian Muller, floating the ball perfectly into the back of the net. Three minutes later, Lewandowski came sliding into the box to finish off a cross coming from Serge Gnabry for his second score. This was a great comeback performance from Robert Lewandowski after being held scoreless in Bayern’s last two games.
Serge Gnabry
We witnessed a masterful performance from Serge Gnabry in which he single-handedly took down Stuttgart himself. He displayed both great solo skill and team play. Not only did he seal a hattrick in 75 minutes, but he also assisted both of Lewandowski’s goals.
The first goal Gnabry scored was his best of the season. After being played forward by Leroy Sane, Gnabry bent the ball over the keeper with such finesse and nestled itself into the back of the net. Overall, an 11/10 performance from Serge Gnabry today.
As a team, this was a great show coming from all the Bayern players. As the calendar year comes to an end, Bayern Munich has one more game to go. They will be looking to close out the year with a win against Wolfsburg on Dec.17th.