Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller (Bottom) vies with Augsburg's Kevin Danso during a German Bundesliga match between FC Augsburg and Bayern Munich in Augsburg, Germany, Feb. 15, 2019. Bayern Munich won 3-2. (Xinhua/Philippe Ruiz)
BERLIN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich came back twice to overpower Augsburg 3-2 on Kingsley Coman's first-half brace in the opener of the Bundesliga 22nd round on Friday.
The German record champions reduced the arrears to front-runners Borussia Dortmund to two points for the moment. The victory was a stiff piece of work as Augsburg took the lead twice. Nevertheless, Niko Kovac's men bounced back on Coman's brace and David Alaba's winner.
The hosts grabbed a fairytale start in front of home crowd though as Bayern's Leon Goretzka netted an own goal to give Augsburg the lead with only 13 seconds into the game.
Bayern regrouped and fought back in the 17th minute when Joshua Kimmich's delivery to the far post found Coman, who tapped home the equalizer from very close range.
Augsburg remained unimpressed and shocked the visitors only seven minutes later after Dong-Won Ji benefitted on a flicked square pass to make it 2-1.
Bayern lacked in ideas and had to wait until the dying seconds of the first half before Coman leveled the scores once again after nutmegging Augsburg's goalkeeper Gregor Kobel with a low shot from the edge of the box.
The second equalizer took the wind out of the host's sails as Bayern took the reins before securing the 3-2 lead through David Alaba, who slotted home from 13 meters into the top right corner with 53 minutes played.
Bayern remained in control of the proceedings on the pitch whereas Augsburg failed to threat the visitor's defense in the second half.
The Bundesliga defending champions had even the chance to extend the lead but the crossbar denied Coman's header in the 71st minute.
With the victory, second-placed Bayern Munich close the gap to leaders Dortmund meanwhile Augsburg stay on the 15th position and in touching distance to the relegation zone.
The following fixtures are scheduled for Saturday: Schalke host Freiburg, Hoffenheim see bottom side Hannover, struggling Stuttgart face Leipzig, Wolfsburg encounter Mainz and Hertha Berlin take on Werder Bremen.
