Patient Bayern beat 10-man Borussia Mönchengladbach

FC Bayern beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 on Saturday to maintain their perfect start to the season. Gladbach were reduced to ten men when Jens Castrop saw a red card in the first half and Bayern were dominant throughout, but they had to wait for Joshua Kimmich to open the scoring after the hour. Raphaël Guerreiro soon doubled the lead before Lennart Karl’s sumptuous goal rounded off the scoreline.

Munich started with Jonas Urbig in goal and Tom Bischof, Dayot Upamecano, Minjae Kim and Sacha Boey in defence. Kimmich and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring Michael Olise, Harry Kane and Luis Díaz, with Nicolas Jackson up front. Guerreiro and Konrad Laimer took over from Boey and Upamecano at half-time, with Serge Gnabry, Karl and Josip Stanišić coming on for Jackson, Díaz and Bischof in the second half.

Held by 10 men

Bayern almost took the lead in the first minute, Jackson teeing up Díaz, but the Colombian fired wide from close range. Díaz had an effort blocked before Castrop initially saw a yellow card for a challenge on the Colombian, but that was upgraded to a red after review.

Bayern were dominant as Gladbach increasingly sat back, but the Bundesliga champions were unable to find a way through. Díaz cale close to teeing up Jackson, whose first touch let him down, with Upamecano firing over from range. Gladbach goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas beat Jackson to a pass and denied Kane, while Kimmich fired wide as the contest remained goalless at half-time.

Kimmich opens, Karl wraps up

Olise blasted just over and had another shot cleared off the line as Bayern upped the ante after the restart. Nicolas saved from Díaz before Kane found the net, but the assistant’s flag was up for offside. Vincent Kompany’s men did finally score when Gnabry set up Kimmich, who saw his first shot blocked but netted the rebound.

The goal opened things up, with Olise’s pinpoint pass finding Guerreiro, who slotted home the second. Gladbach were awarded a penalty when Bischof held back Kevin Diks, only for Kevin Stöger to hit the post. Bayern made it three when Karl unleashed a majestic curling effort into the top corner of the net for his maiden Bundesliga goal as Bayern wrapped up all three points once again.

The result means Bayern top the table on a perfect 24 points from eight matches, five clear of RB Leipzig. The Bavarians will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to face Köln in the DFB Cup.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen