Bayern beat Augsburg to stay atop in Bundesliga

BERLIN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Benjamin Pavard had a first-half brace as Bayern Munich came from behind to beat Augsburg 5-3 in the 24th round of the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Augsburg enjoyed a fairy-tale start on the road as Mergim Berisha benefitted from Pavard's poor clearance attempt and drilled the ball past Bayern goalkeeper Yann Sommer to score with two minutes played.

Bayern turned up as the match progressed and restored parity with 15 minutes gone when Joao Cancelo finished off a solo run with a well-placed low shot.

The German giants' comeback was completed four minutes later as Pavard utilized Sadio Mane's overhead kick before hammering it into the bottom right corner.

Augsburg couldn't hold the pace and Bayern wasn't done with the scoring. Pavard wrapped up his brace in the 35th minute after slotting home a rebound with a scissors kick from close range.

Things went from bad to worse for Augsburg in the closing stages of the first half, when Leroy Sane headed home to make it four.

Augsburg showed signs of life after the break as Berisha converted a penalty on the hour mark.

Bayern restored its three-goal advantage through Alphonso Davies, who made the most of Cancelo's pinpoint cross into the box in the 74th minute.

Augsburg's resilience still wasn't broken as the "Fuggerstadter" reduced the arrears in the injury time after Ruben Vargas' square pass allowed Irvin Cardona to make it 5-3 on the scoreboards.

"The boys showed a great reaction after Augsburg's opener. We then put our foot down for like 30 minutes. In the end, we ceased our offensive actions, but three Augsburg goals are unnecessary," said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Elsewhere, Leipzig jump into the top three after seeing off Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0.

Eintracht Frankfurt shared the spoils with relegation-threatened Stuttgart 1-1, while Hertha Berlin played out a 1-1 draw with Mainz.

On Friday, Bochum reaped vital points in the relegation battle after beating Cologne 2-0.