Robert Lewandowski scored twice, including a second-half penalty, to guide the German champions Bayern Munich to a crucial 3-2 victory at title rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and a four-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

The Pole opened his account in the ninth minute to level after Dortmund had taken an early lead through Julian Brandt, and then converted a controversial 77th-minute spot-kick to seal victory with his 16th goal of the campaign.

Kingsley Coman had put Bayern in front a minute before the break before Erling Haaland equalised for the hosts with a superbly curled effort in the 48th.

In an action-packed encounter, Dortmund coach Marco Rose was sent off with a second booking for dissent following the penalty decision.

Bayern, chasing a record-extending 10th league crown, move up to 34 points with this sixth straight league win over their rivals, leaving Dortmund in second place on 30. Bayer Leverkusen are in third place on 27.

“I think we deserved to win but I also understand the discussions over the two penalty situations,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said.

Dortmund were fuming about the penalty decision in favour of Bayern after having been denied a VAR review in a penalty claim of their own earlier.

“It was a very tight game that was worthy of its reputation. We could have scored more in the first half,” Nagelsmann said. “Dortmund did it well early in the second half but we found our rhythm again and had good control.”

Elsewhere, Patrik Schick scored four times in 27 minutes as Bayer Leverkusencrushed Greuther Fuerth 7-1 to make it three wins in a row and climb into third place in the Bundesliga.

The 25-year-old Czech striker took his season tally to 12 league goals after scoring all of his four goals in a remarkable second-half performance, to stretch Leverkusen’s unbeaten run to four consecutive league games and lift them to 27 points.