Sebastian Rode scored the only goal of the opening 45 minutes to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 lead over Hoffenheim at the halfway stage of their Bundesliga meeting at the Rhein Neckar Arena this afternoon.
Predictably, it was Bayern who dominated possession in the early stages and an opening was created when Ginaluca Gaudino burst into the box before hitting his effort straight at Oliver Baumann.
Robert Lewandowski should have broken the deadlock when he was gifted the space to meet Mario Gotze's cross, but the Polish striker could only head over the crossbar to the relief of the home supporters.
After spending much of the first half on the back foot, Hoffenheim came close to breaking the deadlock on the counter-attack as Anthony Modeste sprinted into space before forcing Manuel Neuer into a save.
However, the lead belonged to Bayern before the interval when Lewandowski picked out Rode, who curled home from the edge of the box to leave Baumann helpless.
Callum Mulvihill
