On-song Reds overcome Freiburg

FC Bayern beat SC Freiburg 2-1 on Saturday, winning their third match in a row. The match was evenly-balanced for a half-hour, but after Leon Goretzka opened the scoring, Bayern dominated the remainder of the game, and Robert Lewandowski doubled the advantage with a quarter-hour to go. Janik Haberer pulled one back in the frantic closing stages but Munich sealed a deserved and crucial victory.

The Bavarians started with Manuel Neuer in goal and Niklas Süle, Dayot Upamecano, Lucas Hernández and Alphonso Davies in a back four. Joshua Kimmich and Goretzka featured in a twin holding role behind Kingsley Coman, Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané, with Lewandowski up front. Serge Gnabry, Corentin Tolisso, Jamal Musiala, Tanguy Nianzou and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting took over from Coman, Goretzka, Müller, Hernández and Sané in the second half.

Leon on target

The 75,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw both sides looking to attack in an entertaining match that lived up to its billing. Sané saw an effort blocked before keeper Mark Flekken denied Süle and Davies, with Höler and Eggestein firing wide at the other end. Kimmich saw an overhead kick saved but Bayern drew first blood when Müller invited Goretzka to bury past Flekken.

Munich were buoyed by the opener, now dominating the match. Flekken denied Lewandowski, Sané and Coman seeing efforts blocked. The latter directed a header straight at Flekken, and the sides turned round with Bayern a goal to the good.

Lewy seals it

Bayern went straight back onto the front foot after the restart, although Eggestein and Höfler blasted wide from distance. Sané tested Flekken and Goretzka hit the post, with Coman miscuing from 15 yards and Lewandowski directing a header onto the roof of the net.

Goretzka shaved the bar and Gnabry was denied by Flekken, but the German record champions twisted the knife when Lewandowski tapped in a Sané square. Neuer stood out with a strong save against Demirovic before denying Höler. Tolisso soon beat Flekken with a wonderful lob from 30 yards, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The visitors pulled one back when Haberer's powerful drive found the net, but Gnabry drew another save from Flekken, and Bayern claimed a deserved victory.

The result takes Bayern onto 28 points from 11 matches, four ahead of Dortmund, who take on Leipzig later on Saturday. A large number of FCB pros will be on national team duty during the international break before the Reds return to action on 19 November, when they travel to face Augsburg.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen