There was plenty of smoke, but Bayern Munich needed time to catch fire.
The game was postponed for 10 minutes as smoke from flares covered the field, allowing 17-year-old Renato Karl to score his fourth goal. Bundesliga Bayern scored a breakthrough season goal as they beat Cologne 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Wednesday.
Having won 17 of their 34 games, Bayern equaled the 47 mid-point Bundesliga points set by Josep Guardiola’s Bayern in the 2013-14 season, and beat them on goal difference by +53 to +35. With Bayern’s victory, the difference between them and second-place Borussia Dortmund has returned to 11 points.
Still, it wasn’t the spectacular dominance seen on Sunday. Bayern won 8-1 Over Wolfsburg.
A large display of fireworks by the Cologne fans before kick-off caused thick smoke to drift over the field, and the referee stopped the match in the fourth minute, with the players kicking the ball around until it was cleared.
Cologne was also lively. Only Manuel Neuer’s quick reaction stopped 19-year-old Saeed El Mara from scoring, giving Cologne the lead in the second minute.
Linton Maina put Cologne ahead in the 41st minute, stealing the ball from Serge Gnabry deep in their own half and running onto the field to score a stunning solo goal as the Bayern defense was slow to react.
A few minutes later, Gnabry hit back with a different and special goal. A trick shot from a narrow angle hit the ground and bounced over the goalkeeper.
After Bayern struggled to break down Cologne’s defense, Kim Min-jae was able to put his team ahead in the 71st minute thanks to a complex short corner routine. Karl scored his first clinical goal in the 84th minute off a pass from Luis Diaz, making it 3-1.
Leipzig resumes action
Leipzig showed off their set-piece skills and got a belated start to 2026 with a 2-0 win over Freiburg thanks to headers from Willi Orbán and Romulo.
Leipzig’s first game of the new year, played in St. Pauli on Saturday, was canceled due to safety concerns due to snow and ice at the stadium. They are in third place, 15 points behind leaders Bayern.
Hoffenheim defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-1, with Andrej Kramaric scoring a hat-trick by half-time, and boosted their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League in fifth place.
Wolfsburg, reeling from their worst 8-1 defeat in the Bundesliga against Bayern, responded with a 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened St. Pauli. In the 88th minute, Dženan Pejnović scored the winning goal with his head.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
