Heroic Lewandowski Carries Bayern Munich Yet Again in Augsburg Win

Bayern Munich returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga on Sunday as they beat Augsburg 3-1 in their derby clash. The win restored the league leaders' eight-point lead atop the table, a day after Borussia Dortmund cut the margin with their win against Hannover.

Pep Guardiola's men entered Sunday's match ravaged by injuries in defense, yet it was not at the back where they found trouble. They got their winner through Robert Lewandowski, but not for the first time in recent memory, the Bavarians lacked a bit of sharpness in the attacking third.

Instead, Bayern relied yet again on Lewandowski to make the difference. The Polish striker did just that, creating space with some marvelous footwork inside the penalty box before firing a precise finish just inside the post to open the scoring with Bayern's first half-chance of the game.

Although they did very well to contain Augsburg and limit their opponents to almost nothing going forward, the visitors were far from their dazzling best. But Lewandowski struck again shortly after the hour mark to ensure victory. The game then descended into a glorified scrimmage, and Thomas Muller added a third, making Raul Bobadilla's late strike insignificant.

Lewandowski celebrated his fourth brace in five games in all competitions since the winter break and further solidified his status as the driving force behind his club's success.

By the time he put the result to rest, the 27-year-old had accounted for eight of his team's nine goals in 2016. It's a staggering figure and testament to just how brilliant Lewandowski is: his 31 strikes in as many games this season is an absolutely stellar tally, and there is no out-and-out striker in the world right now who can be considered head and shoulders ahead of Bayern's number nine. A few are comparable and perhaps on par, but he truly is just as good.

At the same time, the fact Lewandowski is accounting for such a high percentage of Bayern's goals is cause for concern. Arjen Robben had an assist late in the recent Pokal win against Bochum but has otherwise had no direct contribution to a Bayern goal since November.

Douglas Costa increased his tally to two assists in five games on Sunday, but his assist for Thomas Muller only came after the result was decided: With the game in the balance, he wasn't near his best. And in 2016, he hasn't looked at all like the player who recorded 10 assists in his first seven Bundesliga games. He's shown explosive pace and good dribbling skill, but his passing accuracy has been off, and he hasn't been much of a direct threat on goal, either.

Muller has been better, but even he has been rather hit-or-miss in 2016. Lewandowski is the man who has led the Bayern attack; no player, and even the rest of the team combined does not come close to matching his output.

This isn’t the first time Lewandowski has found himself carrying along a strong but somewhat faltering side. In his last season at Dortmund, cracks were beginning to form in Jurgen Klopp’s team. Yet the now-Liverpool trainer’s team did not entirely collapse for another year, with plenty of thanks to the brilliance of Lewandowski.

The striker finished with 28 goals on the season, fewer than in the previous two campaigns, but he pulled rabbit after rabbit out of his hat. His goal against Hannover in March of 2014 was an unassisted thing of exquisite beauty, and like his opener on Sunday, it was all his doing.

Bayern should be proud to have such a brilliant striker in their team; any club would. But at the same time, it's a bit of a concern that he's the only attacker who is truly at his best right now.

In the one game in which he hasn't scored in 2016, Bayern were held to a 0-0 draw. Barcelona, by contrast, have in Luis Suarez one of the few strikers who can match Lewandowski, yet the Uruguayan has consistently had support from Lionel Messi and Neymar all season long. Bayern had that kind of support for Lewandowski throughout the first round of the season, but they are yet to find it in 2016.

@Mr_Bundesliga