Ingolstadt vs. Bayern Munich: Score, Reaction from 2016 Bundesliga Match
Bayern Munich became the first team ever to win four Bundesliga titles in succession after defeating Ingolstadt 2-1 on Saturday, where Robert Lewandowski's brace etched his team's name in the German history books.
The Poland striker brought his goal tally up to 29 for the season after bagging two in the space of 17 minutes at Audi-Sportpark, driving Der FCB to a crown-clinching result in the process.
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Ingolstadt attacker Moritz Hartmann halved the hosts' deficit just before half-time, and despite a tetchier performance in the second period, Bayern had enough about them to see out the victory.
Bayern's official Twitter account was quick to celebrate a historic four-peat, with manager Pep Guardiola picking up his third Bundesliga crown since arriving at the helm:
Bayern's push in the opening 15 minutes of the match was a relentless one, and it took the travelling outfit just a quarter-of-an-hour to take their hosts by surprise and head into an early lead.
Some fine buildup play from Douglas Costa and Franck Ribery ended with the latter going down under a Marvin Matip tackle, but Ross Dunbar of German outlet DW Sports argued the Frenchman went down too easily:
Nevertheless, referee Florian Meyer gave the spot-kick, and Lewandowski was only too happy to convert from 12 yards out.
Bayern might have gone 2-0 ahead just a few minutes later were it not for the last-ditch tackling of Benjamin Hubner, but Guardiola's men nevertheless got their second in the 32nd minute.
Xabi Alonso scythed a cutting pass through the Ingolstadt defence, and Lewandowski was allowed ample time in the area, firing his shot low and into the bottom-left corner of Ramazan Ozcan's goal.
That strike was Lewandowski's 29th of the 2015-16 campaign, which Gracenote highlighted as a record-tying achievement for the Pole, who has one match left to further stamp his imprint on this Bundesliga term:
Alonso had a major hand in setting up Bayern's second, but he had an altogether more negative influence at the opposite end, fouling an opponent in the box, and Hartmann converted to give Ingolstadt hope at the break.
Unfortunately for Bayern, Alonso's foul also led to the club giving up a streak of their own:
The second period made for a much more open forum than Guardiola will have wanted, and Ingolstadt even accounted for a very slight majority of the possession for much of the half, according to WhoScored.com.
Hartmann even had his chance to put the hosts level just after the 70-minute mark, but he fluffed his lines one-on-one with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and scorched his effort wide of the frame.
Their title chase was made even easier by the fact runners-up Borussia Dortmund lost 1-0 in their visit to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, and Bet365 illustrated Bayern's grip on the domestic order:
Much has been made of Guardiola's failure to win the UEFA Champions League during his time in Bavaria, but the Spanish tactician can hold his head high having led the club to an accolade some in Germany may feel is of even greater value.
Bayern will end their season at home to Hannover next Saturday, and they can expect a summer send-off only befitting of a team that continues to strut its dominance over Germany's top flight.
Post-Match Reaction
The post-match celebrations came thick and fast in Bavaria on Saturday as Guardiola's men revelled in the success of a fourth straight Bundesliga triumph.
For 2015 summer signing Douglas Costa, this is the first of what he hopes will become a trend during his Bayern tenure, posting footage of the squad's dressing room celebrations on his official Instagram account:
Centre-back Holger Badstuber has once again seen his season hampered by injuries, but the German was quick to express his happiness with the fifth Bundesliga title of his career.
Defensive partner Javi Martinez has also been absent for stretches of this campaign, but he played the 90 minutes of Saturday's victory and also took to Twitter in delight:
The official Bundesliga Twitter account provided quotes from league president Dr. Reinhard Rauball, who said:
It's all Der FCB deserve after once again making their way to the finish post last and Guardiola makes a pleasant departure from the Allianz Arena as he heads to Manchester City this summer.
