Lewandowski's double steers Bayern back to top at Leverkusen

Robert Lewandowski has underlined his status as FIFA player of the year with both goals, the second coming just before the final whistle, as European champions Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.

Having beaten Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the award on Thursday, Lewandowski claimed the last-gasp winner after 93 minutes at the BayArena.

"What a year we have had, I hope we will continue to play like this in the new year," Lewandowski told Sky.

"It's always nice to score a goal in the last few seconds, especially to get an important victory.

"This shows that we always want to win games like these," Lewandowski added.

Lewandowski has 20 goals in 18 games this season in all competitions having also headed Bayern level just before the break after Patrik Schick gave Leverkusen an early lead.

The Bavarians are two-points clear going into the league's two-week winter break.

Second-placed Leverkusen are level on 28 points with RB Leipzig, who are third after their goalless draw at home to Cologne.

Having also ended Wolfsburg's unbeaten run this season in mid-week, Bayern are also the first Bundesliga team to beat Leverkusen this term.

For the seventh league game in a row, Bayern conceded the opening goal when Leverkusen exposed the European champions' current trend of weak defending at set pieces.

The visitors took the lead on 14 minutes when Schick smashed his shot past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, voted goalkeeper of the year on Thursday, from a corner.

Schick had the ball in the Bayern net again on 28 minutes, but he was offside.

Bayern equalised with their first clear attack just before half-time when Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba lost possession.

The ball was worked to Thomas Mueller, whose cross flew over the defence to Lewandowksi to head home unmarked at the far post.

Bayern's England Under-21 midfielder Jamal Musiala hit the post midway through the second-half before Lewandowski struck.

A ball flicked on by Joshua Kimmich, making his first appearance after a knee injury, put Lewandowski in behind the defence to clinically fire home the winner.

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Thuram sent off for spitting

Earlier, Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram was sent off for spitting in an opponent's face during the 2-1 home defeat by Hoffenheim.

The France forward was shown a straight red card with 11 minutes left, which turned the game after the VAR spotted Thuram spitting at the visitors' defender Stefan Posch.

The incident happened just after Andrej Kramaric had equalised for the away side at Borussia Park.

Nine minutes after Thuram's dismissal, Tottenham loanee Ryan Sessegnon put Hoffenheim ahead when he tapped in a cross unmarked at the far post.

Gladbach, who face Manchester City in the last 16 of the Champions League in February, had gone ahead when their captain Lars Stindl converted a first-half penalty.

While Bayern were improved after the break, they did not create too many clear-cut chances, with Leverkusen seemingly happy to take the point.

But Lewandowski’s year finished on a yet another high, as in his and Bayern’s final match until January 3, the 32-year-old Pole fired home, via a deflection, to snatch another victory for the champions. 

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