BAYERN MAINTAINS THEIR BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE

A brilliant last-gasp goal from Thiago Alcantara saw Bayern Munich edge Stuttgart 2-1 on Wednesday night to extend their lead at the Bundesliga summit to 13 points.It looked for much of the evening like Bayern's 42-game unbeaten Bundesliga record was coming to an end after Vedad Ibisevic had put the hosts in front.Stuttgart wasted chances to add a second, though, and were pegged back 15 minutes from time by substitute Claudio Pizarro. And then, deep in stoppage time, Thiago's acrobatic effort earned the visitors all three points.While Bayern may have dominated the first half in the possession stakes, they were rather lucky only to be one goal behind as a young Stuttgart side created numerous openings.Mohammed Abdellaoue set up Timo Werner for the first before a header from Werner struck the outstretched arm of Rafinha inside the penalty area, but the referee waved away the home team's protests.Their anger at that decision did not last too long, however, as Ibisevic put them in front in the 29th minute with a fine side-footed finish from Abdellaoue's lay-off.
Abdellaoue then struck a shot over before Ibisevic shot wide early in the second half.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola responded by introducing Pizarro and Mario Mandzukic, throwing caution to the wind for the final half-hour.The visitors upped the pressure and Stuttgart tried to raise the barricades, succeeding in keeping Mario Gotze and Thomas Muller out before a free-kick from Thiago was met by the 35-year-old Pizarro, who headed in from six yards out.
Stuttgart almost regained the lead through Werner, but, just when it seemed like they would get a point for their toils, they were deprived of even that.
An acrobatic shot from Thiago in the third minute of stoppage time ensured Bayern took all three points to give them a 13-point cushion at the top of the table.