Bayern demolishes Wolfsburg 8-1 to go 11 points clear in Bundesliga

Michael Olise scored twice as Bayern Munich started the new year by routing Wolfsburg 8-1 with six second-half goals to move 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

Olise, Harry Kane and Luis Díaz picked apart the Wolfsburg defense on Sunday in a display of dominance which leaves Bayern firmly on course to defend the title in only the 16th game of the 34-game season.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was pleased his players didn't let up.

“It’s these moments where it’s five, six, 7-1, and they keep running, they keep pressing and keep trying to score goals," he told broadcaster DAZN. "I have to say, I like that.”

In freezing temperatures for Bayern's first game since the winter break, Olise got a brace and Kane and Díaz one apiece, along with goals for substitutes Raphael Guerreiro and Leon Goretzka, and two Wolfsburg own-goals.

Bayern only had two nervous moments all game. The first was Dzenan Pejcinovic's goal for Wolfsburg in the 13th, which leveled the score at 1-1 after right back Konrad Laimer missed an interception.

The other was a brief injury scare for Kane, who needed treatment after being caught on the ankle by defender Moritz Jenz midway through the first half but was soon back in action.

It was Bayern's biggest margin of victory in a Bundesliga game since Kompany took over ahead of the 2024-25 season. His team has scored a remarkable 63 goals in 16 league games this season, nearly four per game, and conceded only 12.

Bayern hasn't lost a Bundesliga game since March and remains the only unbeaten team in any of Europe's five biggest leagues. Wolfsburg is 14th, three points above the relegation zone, as a troubled season hits a new low.

Bayern's closest rivals all had difficulties this weekend as second-place Borussia Dortmund drew 3-3 with Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen lost 4-1 to Stuttgart and Leipzig’s game was postponed due to snow.

Wolfsburg's American midfielder Kevin Paredes entered in the 77th minute, his first match this season after recovering from foot surgery in August.

Also Sunday, United States full back Joe Scally scored his first goal since 2023 as Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Augsburg 4-0. Gladbach moved up two places to 10th after winning at home for only the second time this season.

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Munich's Luis Diaz celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg in Munich, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Munich's Michael Olise celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg in Munich, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Mönchengladbach's Joe Scally, center, celebrates scoring with teammates during the Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Mönchengladbach - FC Augsburg in Mönchengladbach, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)

Munich's Michael Olise celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg in Munich, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)

Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg in Munich, Germany, Sunday Jan. 11, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Religious leaders and civil rights activists condemned what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson that heavily damaged a historic Mississippi synagogue that had been bombed decades ago for its congregation's role in the civil rights movement. One person was arrested for investigation of arson, authorities said.

The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants or firefighters were injured in the blaze. Firefighters arrived to find flames billowing out of windows and all doors to the synagogue locked, the chief of investigations for the Jackson Fire Department, Charles D. Felton Jr., said in a statement.

Local and federal officials, including from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested a person for investigation of arson at a hospital where that person had non-life threatening burns, Felton said. The name of the suspect wasn't being immediately released, Felton said late Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they were “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”

Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.

Local and national officials, religious figures and activists condemned the fire at the 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson.

It was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building. The home of the synagogue’s rabbi, an outspoken critic of racial segregation, was also bombed two months later by the same group.

“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, said in a Facebook post.

The arson underscores the importance of interfaith solidarity in standing up to hate and bigotry, said Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based organization focused on combating antisemitism.

“It was an assault on the heart of Jewish life in the South, and on a legacy shaped in partnership with the Black community through the long, unfinished struggle for civil rights,” Berk said in a statement. “This attack is not only an act of antisemitism, it is an assault on that legacy, testing whether the lessons of that era still hold.”

“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

The Beth Israel congregation is assessing damage but will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and a past president of the congregation.

"We are a resilient people," said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”

One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass and was not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.

The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.

FILE - This Nov. 2, 2018 photo shows an armed Hinds County Sheriff's deputy outside of the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)