Bayern Munich came from behind to claim three vital points in their bid to retain the Bundesliga title, defeating Bavarian rivals Augsburg and extending their unbeaten home league run to 19 games in the process.
Aiming to become the first side to complete a Bundesliga double over Bayern since the 2011/12 season, Augsburg raced into an early lead as Mergim Berisha picked his spot from the edge of the box.
João Cancelo has made his desire for more game time well-known, and he made a strong case for further starts with an arrowed effort from the right to level the contest.
Less than five minutes later, Bayern were ahead when a poorly-cleared set-piece broke to Sadio Mané, who kept the attack alive with an overhead kick, allowing Benjamin Pavard to apply the finishing touch.
Not a stranger to the spectacular, Pavard bagged another with a sublime scissor kick, as Bayern kept their foot on the gas.
With HT approaching, the defending champions added a fourth through Leroy Sané, who followed in to head home Mané’s saved effort, leaving Augsburg with a mountain to climb.
With the game over as a contest, Augsburg still had time for a late consolation from Irvin Cardona to make it 5-3.
Nonetheless, Bayern maintain their spot at the top of the Bundesliga table ahead of a mouthwatering clash with title-chasers Borussia Dortmund at the start of April.
As for Augsburg, failure to repeat their shock win over Julian Nagelsmann’s side leaves them 13th, eight points above automatic relegation for the time being.