Thomas Muller marked a record-breaking appearance for Bayern Munich with the opener in the champions’ 3-0 win over Bochum on Saturday.
Muller’s 428th league outing for Bayern took him past Gerd Muller as the outfield player with the most Bundesliga appearances for the club, with only goalkeepers Sepp Maier (473) and Oliver Kahn (429) now standing between him and the outright club record.
The 33-year-old, who was subbed off at half-time through injury, put Bayern ahead in the 41st minute before Kingsley Coman and a Serge Gnabry second-half penalty sealed all three points.
The result moved Bayern three points clear at the top of the league, although Union Berlin can move back to one point after a late win over RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Bayern went close to opening the scoring in the 15th minute when Eric Maximo Choupo-Moting’s header at the back post from Joao Cancelo’s cross clipped the outside of the post.
The visitors got a promising opener four minutes before the break when Muller latched on to Saidy Janko’s short backpass and rolled into an empty net after initially being thwarted by Manuel Riemann.
It should have been 2-0 before half-time but Leon Goretzka inexplicably headed wide from inside the box after Riemann had kept out Matthijs de Ligt’s header.
Bayern grabbed a second in the 64th minute when Coman, who had replaced Cancela four minutes earlier, fired through the legs of Riemann after being played in by Jamal Musiala.
Janko’s dismal display reached a new low in the 73rd minute when he tripped Gnabry in the area, with the Germany international hitting home a third from the resulting spot-kick.
Bayern Munich Player Rating vs Bochum
GK: Sommer – 6.9
RB: Pavard – 7.7
DF: Upamecano – 6.9
DF: De Ligt – 8.1
LB: Cancelo – 7.4
MD: Goretzka – 8.0
MD: Musiala – 7.5
MD: Sane – 7.8
RW: Gnabry – 8.9
FW: Muller – 8.1
FW: Choupu Moting – 6.9
