Robert Lewandowski scores late to give Bayern Munich victory

Robert Lewandowski's late goal earned 10-man Bayern Munich a 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim to keep Pep Guardiola's men at the top of the Bundesliga standings on Saturday.

Kevin Volland gave Hoffenheim the lead after less than 10 seconds, but Thomas Muller levelled before the break.

The hosts missed a penalty after Jerome Boateng was sent off for Bayern, who nevertheless came away with all three points thanks to Lewandowski's last-minute winner.

Hoffenheim coach Markus Gisdol had promised that his side would not defend but rather wait for opportunities to present themselves, but even he probably did not expect the first to arrive so soon.

It was a gift from David Alaba to Volland, who was alert to pick up the loose ball and send his shot through Manuel Neuer's legs, for one of the fastest goals in German league history.

Alaba made amends in sorts by stealing the ball off Kevin Kuranyi as he prepared to shoot, with Hoffenheim continuing to get more chances than they might have expected.

Bayern also had their chances with Germany star Muller first bringing a fine save out of Oliver Baumann and then Arjen Robben striking a shot against the outside of the post.

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The visitors equalised four minutes before half-time, with a combination which had already hinted at its threat in the 5-0 win over Hamburg a week ago delivering the goods once again. Douglas Costa crossed for Muller to turn the loose ball in after Baumann could only push the ball away.

Another Costa cross only just evaded Mario Gotze and Muller as Bayern wasted a chance to strike just before the interval.

While the end of the first half might have belonged to Bayern, the start of the second was all Hoffenheim's

Gisdol had clearly convinced his players that they were good enough to search for a winner and their approach was causing the defending champions plenty of problems.

The biggest of those problems arrived in the 75th minute when Boateng handled the ball inside the area, earning a second yellow card in addition to giving away a penalty.

Manuel Neuer spared him his blushes, though, by diving the right way to save Eugen Polanski's spot-kick.

With 10 men, there was still no sign of Bayern settling for a point and they did have the ball in the back of the net, although Muller had connected with Lewandowski's effort with his hand.

Lewandowski tested Baumann as Bayern continued to create the better chances, and their persistence paid off with the same striker turning in a pass from Costa to keep Bayern at the top of the pile.