After suffering a hammering in the midweek, Bayern Munich regained some lost pride as they galloped to a 5-2 victory at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern was smarting from Wednesday’s 5-0 loss at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the cup, and Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead the resurgence by ending Union’s 21-game unbeaten run at home in the league.

The table-topping visitors put in a clinical display, with Lewandowski shining early on and Leroy Sané scoring the third goal, before Kingsley Coman and Thomas Müller sealed the win after Niko Gießelmann and Julian Ryerson had kept Union’s hopes alive.

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Since achieving promotion in May 2019, Union fans have been waiting more than two years to see their club play Bayern at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. Due to coronavirus limitations, Bayern’s previous two games in Berlin’s eastern neighbourhood of Köpenick were played without fans. Despite soaring infection rates, 16,500 people were permitted into Union on Saturday, making it the city’s largest crowd since the pandemic began.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann made four changes to the lineup that suffered Bayern’s heaviest defeat in 43 years on Wednesday, despite missing the fourth game due to his own coronavirus condition. Dayot Upamecano was replaced by Niklas Süle, who started in his stead. Dino Toppmöller, the assistant coach, took command once more from the bench.

Bayern’s first 35 minutes will have thrilled Nagelsmann, with the club cruising after a penalty and free-kick from Lewandowski, before Sané made it 3-0.

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As the visitors were first to every ball and the home team fought to keep up, the game threatened to become a rout. The Union fans, on the other hand, never stopped singing, and by the conclusion of the first half, the players had responded.

Gießelmann equalised in the 43rd minute, a minute before Sheraldo Becker scored again, causing the crowd to roar once again. Although the goal was disallowed due to offside, it served as a reminder that Union had not yet been defeated.

After the interval, the roles were flipped, with Union dominating and pushing for additional goals until Coman scored a stunning goal on a Bayern counterattack in the 60th minute.

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However, Ryerson equalised in the 64th minute, thanks to a goal put up by fellow replacement Kevin Behrens just seconds after they entered the game.

In response, Bayern made three replacements, with one of them, Upamecano, setting up Müller for the game-winning goal in the 79th minute.

Despite the loss of the team’s undefeated streak, Union fans continued to sing. It was more crucial to just return.

With inputs from the Associated Press