Bayern Munich's star striker Robert Lewandowski reached a new milestone on Saturday (January 15) as he scored a record 300th goal in the Bundesliga. He became just the second man after great Gerd Muller (also of Bayern Munich) to reach the milestone mark. The Poland international marked the the memorable day with a hat-trick to see Bayern Munich go six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. The Munich giants thrashed their opponents Koln 4-0 to secure a comfortable victory.
16th Bundesliga hat-trick
Lewandowski scored his first goal of the night in the ninth minute when German attacking player Thomas Muller helped in setting up the Polish international to open the scoring. With less than half an hour to go, the 33-year-old was at the right place at the right time to slot home his second and Bayern's third goal of the night. The sublime striker was not done there as he brought up his 16th Bundesliga hat-trick in style by converting neatly in the 74th minute, both goals were assisted by German attacking player Leroy Sane.
Remarkably, the milestone goal was his 226th for the German champions. It has taken 369 matches for Lewandowski to reach the milestone, averaging a goal every 110 minutes. The elite list includes some of the greatest players of the game; former Bayern player Klaus Fischer (268), former Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes (220) and Manfred Burgsmüller (213) are there in the list.
65 more goals
He is now 65 goals shy of the all-time record and with his ability and scoring pace, it looks only a matter of time when he gets past the German. However, factors like injury, fatigue, or a big transfer can still halt the progress. But one record he can’t beat is Muller’s number of hat-tricks. Lewandowski’s 16 hat-tricks are only half of what the German World Cup-winning footballer Muller managed in the late 1970s.
This was not the only milestone of the night as Bayern managed to score in 66 consecutive matches in the top flight. They last failed to score in February 2020 against RB Leipzig in a goalless draw. The win also sees them go on 46 points, six clear of Borussia Dortmund.
