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With 15 matches left to play, the race for top honors in the Bundesliga is neck-and-neck. Not the title race, though—Bayern Munich appear to have that one done and dusted, with eight points separating them from Borussia Dortmund in second. Rather, it's the race for the Torjagerkanone, the trophy awarded to the German top flight's top scorer at the end of every season.
Through 19 rounds of action, BVB's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the way with 20 goals. Bayern goal-getter Robert Lewandowski is hot on his heels with 19.
The Gabon international bailed out a lackluster Dortmund side on Saturday as he scored both of his team's goals in a 2-0 win against Ingolstadt. Lewandowski had considerably more support on Sunday as Bayern dominated Hoffenheim, but he similarly rescued his side, who as a result of injuries were forced to play with a makeshift defense. The scorer of the game's only two goals, the Polish striker moved back to within one goal of his top rival for the top-scorer award.
The race between Aubameyang and Lewandowski is an interesting one on a number of levels. To begin with, it's one area in which the Bundesliga is actually competitive at the top. Many outsiders are turned off by the fact Bayern have made walking to the title a habit. Yet at least in this case, we're entering February with the favorite chasing the underdog.
The other interesting reality of the race for the Bundesliga's goalscoring honors is that the German league finally has a few top-class strikers. It wasn't long ago, 2006-07, when Theofanis Gekas was top scorer with 20 goals. That same figure was enough for Lewandowski to win the award in 2013-14, and Alex Meier claimed the award (albeit partly due to his being injured) with just 19 goals last season.
Now, the Bundesliga has not only Lewandowski and Aubameyang but Javier Hernandez; after a slow start, the Bayer Leverkusen man is quickly rising up the ranks with 13 strikes to his name. Chicharito will probably exceed 20 on the season. So too will Thomas Muller, although the Bayern attacking all-rounder isn't exactly a natural striker as teammate Lewandowski is.
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