By Canadian Press

Bayern Munich wins 8th straight Bundesliga title

Jun 16, 2020 | 2:50 PM

BREMEN, Germany — Bayern Munich secured its eighth successive German Bundesliga title Tuesday with two games to spare after beating Werder Bremen 1-0 with a goal from Robert Lewandowski.

The win on a wet night in Bremen put Bayern 10 points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund, which can earn a maximum nine points from its three remaining games.

Werder kept Bremen at bay for most of the first half but the champions still found a breakthrough. Jerome Boateng played a perfectly weighted ball over the defence in the 43rd minute for Robert Lewandowski to control on his chest and hit past the goalkeeper for his 31st Bundesliga goal this season.

Bayern finished with 10 men after a second yellow card for Canadian international Alphonso Davies in the 79th minute. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a crucial late save to stop Yuya Osako’s header.

Davies was cautioned in the 19th minute after a clash with Leonardo Bittencourt, pushing off the Bremen player after the two made contact seconds earlier.

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Late in the game, the 19-year-old fullback was judged to have impeded Milos Veljkovic. It seemed a harsh call with Davies guilty perhaps only of sticking his backside out a tad as the Serbian went past.  

It was the first red card of his Bundesliga career.

Davies showed his threat down the left flank in the fourth minute but his low cross from just inside the penalty box just missed a teammate — and was ruled offside.

He was clocked at 36.5 km/h in the first half, according to the Bundesliga. That would erase the fastest recorded speed in league history (36.49 km/h by Dortmund’s Achraf Hakimi), although Davies speed has to be ruled official.

Bayern powered to its 30th German title with a perfect record of seven wins in the Bundesliga since it resumed last month in empty stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic. Hansi Flick has coached Bayern to 26 wins from 29 games in all competitions since he took over in November.

Bayern is chasing a possible triple. It can add the German Cup if it beats Bayer Leverkusen in the July 4 final and is in contention for the Champions League. Europe’s premier club competition was postponed because of the coronavirus but is due to finish in a tournament format in August.

Last-placed Paderborn was relegated after losing 1-0 Wednesday to Union Berlin.

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The Associated Press