Lahm happy to bank three points

27 January 2013 23:59

Bayern Munich captain Phillip Lahm was pleased to come away from a tricky match against Stuttgart with three points.

The German giants overcame Stuttgart 2-0 on Sunday with two-second half goals to keep their lead over Bayer Leverkusen at 11 points in the Bundesliga standings.

"It was definitely a difficult away game today. It was the beginning of the second part of the season, we definitely wanted points and next week we have a difficult away game in Mainz where we want to get points as well," Lahm said.

"We have to look at ourselves, gain points and then it'll be extremely hard for our main rivals.

"In the first half it was an even game without major chances on either side then the goal at the beginning of the second half gave us a lot of confidence and it was relatively easy to finish the game off."

Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic scored the all-important first goal of the contest as Bayern were finally rewarded for their dominance in possession.

"I saw that (Cristian) Molinaro was going to play back to the keeper and I was thinking that he might not put enough on the ball . Exactly what I had in my mind happened," Mandzukic said.

"I'd already created the scene a couple of seconds before it happened with what I was supposed to do."