It took a while to make the breakthrough, but Bayern Munich continued their stupendous run of form with an away win at Stuttgart. It wasn't nearly as easy as the final score suggested -- the hosts more than held their own in the first half, hitting the post through Martin Harnik and restricting Bayern to a handful of semi-chances.
Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich: Final score 0-2, Bayern roll on
Alexander Hassenstein
But with a huge draw in sight, Stuttgart decided to shoot themselves in the foot. Christian Molinaro, under no pressure, made the bizarre decision to play a half-ass diagonal pass towards his goalkeeper, and that was an invitation that Mario Mandzukic could not refuse. The big striker raced onto the ball, took a touch around Sven Ulreich, and rolled in from a tight angle to make it 1-0.
The opener came in the 50th minute and that spurred Bayern to bigger and better things. Thomas Müller netted again shortly thereafter only to have his deft finish ruled out for offside. Toni Kroos was somehow denied a penalty when Georg Niedermeier yanked him over in the box. And then Müller made it 2-0 72 minutes in and ended the match as a contest.
Harnik, on a booking after fouling Javi Martinez in the first half, made it more or less official after bringing down Franck Ribery and receiving a second yellow card for his troubles, and from then on the contest closed out with a whimper. Bayern roll on, and it's now only a matter of time before they're confirmed as champions.
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