Patient Bayern overcome Bremen to consolidate lead

FC Bayern beat Werder Bremen 2-1 on Saturday to consolidate their lead in the Bundesliga table. Bayern enjoyed territorial dominance throughout and finally earned their reward after 60 minutes when Serge Gnabry broke the deadlock. Leroy Sané doubled the advantage ten minutes later. Bremen's Niklas Schmidt then got one back shortly before the end.

The Bavarians lined up with Yann Sommer in goal and Noussair Mazraoui, Benjamin Pavard, Matthijs de Ligt and João Cancelo in defence. Joshua Kimmich and Ryan Gravenberch anchored a midfield featuring Kingsley Coman, Jamal Musiala and Sadio Mané, with Serge Gnabry up front. Thomas Müller, Leroy Sané and Bouna Sarr took over from Gravenberch, Coman and Mané in the second half.

No goals

The 42,100 crowd in Bremen saw Munich dominate proceedings but struggle to create openings against disciplined opponents. A Musiala pass found Gnabry, who was denied by Werder keeper Jiri Pavlenka. A big chance came after 20 minutes, when Pavard met a Kimmich free-kick with his head but saw it saved from point-blank range with an excellent reaction stop by the Czech goalkeeper.

Coman fired wide and Mazraoui saw an effort deflected behind, but the hosts upped the ante before half-time. A cross only just evaded Mitchell Weiser and Christian Groß fired over as the sides turned round with the game deadlocked.

Serge opens

Bayern picked up the tempo after the restart, Gnabry just avoiding connection with an overhead kick and Sané firing inches wide, but a goal was coming and arrived after the hour mark. A Mané cross found Musiala, whose attempted shot fell for the unmarked Gnabry to turn home from close range.

Munich doubled the advantage when Mazraoui's defence-splitting pass found Sané, who guided the ball into the far corner of the net. Bremen went looking for a reply, Marvin Ducksch blasting just wide before Jens Stage also hit one wide. Schmidt got one back for the hosts when he found the top corner from distance, but with no more goals to come, Bayern sealed all three points.

The result means Bayern have 65 points from 31 matches, four clear of Dortmund, who take on Wolfsburg on Sunday. The German record champions will be back in action next Saturday when they entertain Schalke.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen