01/14/26 03:52:00
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01/14 15:51 CST Bayern beats Cologne and sets a record after smoke stops play
in Bundesliga
Bayern beats Cologne and sets a record after smoke stops play in Bundesliga
By JAMES ELLINGWORTH
AP Sports Writer
There was plenty of smoke, but Bayern Munich needed time to show some fire.
In a game held up for 10 minutes because flare smoke covered the field,
17-year-old Lennart Karl's fourth Bundesliga goal of a breakout season helped
Bayern to a 3-1 win at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Wednesday.
With 17 games of 34 played, that meant Bayern matched the previous Bundesliga
points record of 47 at the halfway stage set by Pep Guardiola's Bayern of
2013-14 and surpassed it on goal difference, +53 to +35.
Still, it wasn't the sort of spectacular dominance seen Sunday in Bayern's 8-1
win over Wolfsburg.
Cologne fans' vast pyrotechnic display before kickoff produced thick smoke
which drifted over the field before the referee stopped the game in the fourth
minute, leaving the players to kick the ball around while it cleared.
Cologne was fired up, too. Only quick reactions from Manuel Neuer stopped
19-year-old Said El Mala giving Cologne the lead on a quick break in the second
minute.
Linton Maina put Cologne ahead in the 41st, snatching the ball off Serge Gnabry
deep inside his own half and surging down the field to score a spectacular solo
goal as Bayern's defense was slow to react.
Gnabry hit back a few minutes later with a different kind of special goal, a
trick shot from a narrow angle which bounced off the ground and over the
goalkeeper.
After Bayern struggled to break down the Cologne defense, an intricate short
corner routine did the trick, allowing Kim Min-jae to head his team ahead in
the 71st. Karl's clinical first-time finish made it 3-1 in the 84th off a pass
from Luis Daz.
Leipzig back in action
Leipzig showed its set-piece skills as it made a belated start to 2026 with a
2-0 win over Freiburg thanks to headers from Willi Orban and Romulo.
Leipzig's first game of the new year Saturday at St. Pauli was called off
because of safety concerns over snow and ice at the stadium. It's in third
place, 15 points off leader Bayern.
Andrej Kramaric had a hat trick by halftime as Hoffenheim beat Borussia
Moenchengladbach 5-1 to boost its hopes of Champions League qualification in
fifth.
Reeling from the 8-1 loss to Bayern, its worst in the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg
responded with a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened St. Pauli. Dzenan
Pejcinovic headed in the winning goal in the 88th minute.
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