Bayern Munich have defeated Greuther Furth 2-0 at home in the Bundesliga to maintain their nine-point lead at the top of the table.

The home side were in control of the match right from the start and could have taken the lead on 12 minutes when Javi Martínez headed Toni Kroos's corner just wide.

Kroos himself came close with a shot from outside the box on 25 minutes, before Mario Mandzukic turned in Thomas Muller's corner from close range moments later to give Bayern the lead.

The Bayern striker had a good chance to double their advantage in the 36th minute when he was set up by Muller again, but this time he failed to keep his shot on target.

Jupp Heynckes's side finished the first half the stronger of the two teams, with Daniel van Buyten's header from Franck Ribery's delivery going narrowly wide.

Furth could have equalised much against the run of play 10 minutes after the restart had Zoltan Stieber been able to take his chance when he was left unmarked inside the Bayern box.

That miss came back to haunt the visitors as Mandzukic headed home Kroos's corner from close range just past the hour mark to make it 2-0 to Bayern.