India, Jan. 16 -- There was plenty of smoke, but Bayern Munich needed time to show some fire. In a game held up for 10 minutes because flare smoke covered the field, 17-year-old Lennart Karl's fourth Bundesliga goal of a breakout season helped Bayern to a 3-1 win at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Wednesday.

With 17 games of 34 played, that meant Bayern matched the previous Bundesliga points record of 47 at the halfway stage set by Pep Guardiola's Bayern of 2013-14 and surpassed it on goal difference, +53 to +35. Bayern's win restored its 11-point lead over second-place Borussia Dortmund.

Still, it wasn't the sort of spectacular dominance seen Sunday in Bayern's 8-1 win over Wolfsburg. Cologne fans' vast pyrotechnic display before kickoff ...