German club Bayern Munich closed in on a third successive Bundesliga title, thanks to Robert Lewandowski's first-half strike against his former club Borussia Dortmund that helped the defending champions record a 1-0 win.
The Poland striker headed in after Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller parried Thomas Muller's shot, but Lewandowski, who left Dortmund in the summer to join rivals Bayern, did not celebrate his first-half goal.
Meanwhile, midfielder Thiago completed a fine day for Bayern, coming off the bench after a year out with a knee injury, the BBC reported.
It was a resilient display from a Bayern side who are now 10 points clear at the top of the table but had a point to prove following a first home defeat in 11 months last time out, when they lost 2-0 to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Lewandowski had the ball in the net on 15 minutes after a one-two with Muller but it was correctly ruled out for offside. However, he was not to be denied for long, beating defender Marcel Schmelzer to the ball after Muller's shot had been saved to head in.
A more urgent Dortmund began creating opportunities after the break and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan came close when he drilled a long-range effort wide, but they couldn't manage to equalize despite all their hardwork.
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Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp said that things were absolutely fine for the first 10 minutes, adding that then Bayern managed to get a foothold in the game for the first time, and his side let this make an impression on themselves.
Klopp claimed that the second half was better, adding that they had their chances and really forced Bayern to defend with their backs to the wall at times and prevented counter-attacks, but admitted that that alone isn't enough against Bayern.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola said that in the first half things were unbelievably difficult; adding that in the second period they defended well but didn't play well.
Guardiola said that he can only congratulate his team, especially Dante in defence, adding that he would like to dedicate this victory to him, insisting that he would love to have 1,000 Dantes in his team.
