Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin met in their Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena with both sides in good form.
Munich hadn't lost in the league this season while the visitors were unbeaten in their last four and were eight points behind Pep Guardiola's side in the table.
Despite taking the lead early on, Berlin succumbed to their third defeat of the season as Mario Mandzukic scored a brace while Mario Gotze added another, which was enough for the win.
Read how all the action unfolded in our commentary below.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live coverage of the Bundesliga clash between Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.
Pep Guardiola's side come into the game in imperious form following their 5-0 hammering of Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League in midweek.
Munich are unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season and have dropped just four points in draws with Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen but have won seven out of their nine games in the campaign.
Despite their dominance this season Guardiola's side only lead the Bundesliga by a point from Borussia Dortmund and Leverkusen with Hertha eight points off the pace in fourth.
After going through a rough period of back-to-back defeats Berlin in September to Wolfsburg and Stuttgart but since then they are unbeaten in four games with wins over Borussia Mochengladbach and Mainz.
The form of striker Gustavo Ramos and Samuel Allagui has been crucial in lifting them to fourth in the table and if they are to have a chance this afternoon, those strikers will need to deliver.
The team news has just been revealed and we'll start with the home side.
BAYERN STARTING XI: Neuer, Rafinha, Boateng, Van Buyten, Alaba, Lahm, Robben, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Ribery, Muller
HERTHA BERLIN STARTING XI: Kraft, Pekarik, Lustenberger, Langkamp, Van Den Bergh, Hosogai, Cigerci, Skjelbred, Ben-Hatira, Schulz, Ramos
The players are making their way out onto the pitch and we should be underway shortly.
We're underway at the Allianz Arena.
Slow start to the game as both teams look to find a passing rhythm early in the fixture.
GOAL! Bayern 0-1 Hertha Berlin (Ramos)
The visitors take the lead as Ramos rises highest in the area from a corner from the right from Skjelbred and powers a header past Neuer into the net. A great start for Hertha.
Bayern look for an immediate response as Kroos raids down the middle and gets into the penalty area but he is stopped by a good covering tackle from Lustenburger. A good intervention by the defender.
OFF THE BAR! Hertha come so close to doubling the lead as Ben-Hatira gets the ball down the right and sees Neuer off his line, he goes for an ambitious lob, which beats Neuer and looks goalbound but his effort clatters off the bar and is cleared.
Bayern are really struggling to get into the game at the moment. They look completely shell shocked by the visitors start to the game.
Ribery and Robben have barely touched the ball so far this afternoon, it seems whenever they are targeted by their teammates they are put under immediate pressure from Hertha defenders.
Hertha get around the back of the Bayern defence again and Schulz drives toward goal, he crosses low trying to pick out Gustavo but Neuer does well to claim the cross to break up the attack.
SAVE! Kraft keeps his side in the lead with a magnificent save to deny Kroos as he blasted an effort towards the top corner after Ribery had done well down the left to carve out the opportunity for the midfielder inside the penalty area.
Robben tests the Hertha defence as he raids down the right and jinks one way then the other, he beats Van Den Bergh and fires a left-footed shot at goal but his effort is blocked by his own man Muller, who is flagged offside.
It hasn't been pretty so far from Bayern. They look out of sync especially in the final third of the pitch.
SUBSTITUTION: Gotze replaces Kroos for the home side. Not sure whether this could be tactical or injury related.
SUBSTITUTION: Another change for Pep Guardiola's side as Robben is replaced by Mandzukic.
Alaba hits a ball behind the Hertha defence for the on rushing Muller, he gets to the before it goes out of play and knocks it into the box looking for Mandzukic but Langkamp cuts it out with a good clearance.
GOAL! Bayern 1-1 Hertha Berlin (Mandzukic)
Bayern are level as Mandzukic heads home from close range as he powers Ribery's cross from a free kick past Kraft, who was in no-man's land. A soft goal to give away for the visitors, who were playing well.
Bayern look dangerous now and Schweinsteiger breaks up an attack and surges forward into Hertha territory and finds Ribery, the Frenchman tries to do too much with the ball at his feet and the chance is spurned as good defensing forces him backwards.
Schweinsteiger makes a crucial tackle on Hosogai and wins the ball for his side deep in Berlin territory but the referee flags for a foul as Rafinha looked to break away.
Schweinsteiger makes a crucial tackle on Hosogai and wins the ball for his side deep in Berlin territory but the referee flags for a foul as Rafinha looked to break away.
Gotze slides a through ball for the run of Muller, he gets into the box but a covering tackle from Langkamp saves the day for the hosts to stop the striker in his tracks in the penalty area.
Bayern are slowly creeping into gear in the first half after being well below par for the first 25 minutes of this game.
Bayern get a chance to threaten from a free kick as Mandzukic is hauled down 25 yards from goal. Alaba takes the kick but he strikes his effort into the wall, a wasteful effort from the full-back.
The home side work the ball down the left and Alaba lifts a cross into the penalty area and at the back post, Muller beats Van der Bergh in the air, but his header goes well over the bar from six yards out.
After dominating the game in the first 20 minutes Hertha have struggled to get a kick of the ball since Mandzukic's leveller, Bayern have well and truly taken command of the game.
Van Buyten slides a lovely through ball for the run of Schweinsteiger, the midfielder takes a touch on the edge of the area and looks to have overrun the ball. He somehow keeps possession and tries to feed Muller with a pass but the two aren't on the same page and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
HALF-TIME: Bayern Munich 1-1 Hertha Berlin
The two sides are level going into the break, which is probably the fair result as Hertha dominated the opening 20 minutes or so and deserved to take the lead through Ramos but Bayern responded and without being at their best find their equaliser through Mandzukic.
After seeing his side being dominated for the opening period of the game Guardiola made changes replacing Kroos and Robben for Gotze and Mandzukic and those subs had the desired effect on the game the Spaniard was hoping for, as the striker got on the net while the midfielder got control of the game for his team.
Hertha will be disappointed to be level as they dominated the game in the first 20 minutes but they soon fell away. The goal they conceded was sloppy and offered Bayern an easy way back into the game without them playing that well to earn it.
Jos Luhukay's side will need to up their game in the second half to the level it was before Mandzukic's equaliser if they want to get back into this one.
UPDATE: Schalke 0-1 Borussia Dortmund, Mainz 05 1-0 Braunschweig, Hannover 0-2 Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Augsburg.
The players are making their way back onto the pitch and we should be underway shortly.
We're back underway at the Allianz Arena.
CHANCE! Cigerci goes close for the visitors after being teed up by Ben-Hatira but Schweinsteiger throws himself in the way of the goalbound shot and makes a crucial block to divert the ball behind for a corner.
From the resulting corner Bayern clear the danger with ease. Much better from the visitors.
GOAL! Bayern 2-1 Hertha Berlin (Mandzukic)
Mandzukic gives his side the lead and doubles his tally for the afternoon with another headed effort from a Ribery free kick. The cross was from 40 yards away and was pinpoint on the back post and the striker did well to beat Lustenberg in the air and head is effort into the bottom corner beating Kraft.
GOAL! Bayern 3-1 Hertha Berlin (Gotze)
Bayern go further ahead as Gotze heads home this time as his header trickles into the bottom corner from Rafinha's cross from the right, as he beat Pekarik to the ball and Kraft didn't seem to think he would win the header and wasn't prepared for the ball as it crept past him.
GOAL! Bayern 3-2 Hertha Berlin (Ben-Hatira)
Hertha get a goal back immediately as Schulz raids down the left and fires a low cross into the penalty area, Ramos gets an effort away and he hits it towards Ben-Hatira, who smashes the ball into the net from close range.
What a game we're having here as defending seems to have disappeared in the last 10 minutes.
Bayern are desperately trying to take the pace out of the game with a passing game as the visitors look reinvigorated after their goal. A crucial period in the game coming up.
SUBSTITUTION: Guardiola seems to recognise that his team needs to keep the ball at the moment and uses his last chance as Javi Martinez replaces Muller.
The home side threaten down the right as Ribery beats his marker and lifts a cross into the area but Lustenburger gets ahead of Mandzukic to make a vital interception and the clear the danger.
Cigerci is played in down the right and he has all sorts of time to find a teammate but his delivery is poor and Bayern clear the danger with ease. Not what Hertha needed there.
Bayern seem to have succeeded in their objective to slow the game down as the pace has dropped significantly in their last five minutes or so with the addition of an extra central midfield player.
The urgency in the visitors play as increased but their is a distinct lack of quality in their play especially in the central midfield areas as Skjelbred and Hosogai are bystanders at the moment.
SHOT! Hertha work the ball nicely through the midfield for a chance and the ball comes to Schulz on the edge of the area and he drills a low shot at goal but Neuer gets down to his right to make the comfortable stop.
The pace is really out of the game now and Bayern are doing a good job of sitting on their lead at the moment by not over-committing men forward in attack.
PENALTY CLAIM! Van Buyten brings down Ramos in the area and Hertha want a penalty but the referee waves those claims away. Luhukay's not happy on the sideline but it doesn't look like it was.
OFF THE POST! Bayern go so close as they attempt to kill off the game on a counter as Ribery's back-heeled effort clips off the woodwork and goes wide after Rafinha raided down the right and found the Frenchman.
Bayern commit men forward again down the right but instead of running towards goal Ribery and Rafinha try to take the ball to the corner. It doesn't work out as the Frenchman loses possession, Bayern will hope that won't cost them.
The visitors are still scrapping in this game but their hopes of an equaliser are fading by the minute as Bayern look solid at the moment.
YELLOW CARD! Hertha lose possession in the Bayern half and out of sheer desperation to win the ball Skjelbred launches himself into a tackle with Mandzukic and brings him down and is booked.
There will be two minutes of added time.
If Hertha weren't showing signs of desperation before they are now as Ramos throws himself to the floor in the penalty area but the referee waves play on. Boateng was in pursuit of him but made no contact with the striker.
FULL-TIME: Bayern Munich 3-2 Hertha Berlin
Bayern secure hard-earned victory at the Allianz Arena thanks to a brace from Mario Mandzukic and a strike from Mario Gotze. The home side weren't at their best but they were good enough to hold off Hertha Berlin to stay top of the Bundesliga.
Thanks for joining our commentary today, be sure to stay with us for our coverage of all the major European leagues this afternoon.
Written by
Simon Sinclair
Simon Sinclair
