Patient Bayern earn late reward

FC Bayern beat St. Pauli 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to extend their lead in the Bundesliga. Andreas Hountondji and Raphaël Guerreiro traded goals in the first half. Bayern were denied by the woodwork three times and had to wait until added time for Luis Díaz and substitute Nicolas Jackson to seal victory.

Munich started with Manuel Neuer in goal and Konrad Laimer, Minjae Kim, Jonathan Tah and Tom Bischof in defence. Aleksandar Pavlović and Joshua Kimmich anchored a midfield featuring Lennart Karl, Raphaël Guerreiro and Luis Díaz, with Harry Kane up front. Michael Olise took over from Laimer at half-time, with Serge Gnabry, Josip Stanišić, Leon Goretzka and Jackson coming on for Karl, Guerreiro, Kim and Pavlović in the second half.

Early setback

The fans said goodbye to Kingsley Coman after a decade at Bayern before kick-off. The pattern of the game was soon established with Bayern in the driving seat and St. Pauli looking to strike on the break. Pavlović fired a shot over, but Munich suffered an early setback when they lost possession in their own half and Mathias Pereira Lage released Hountondji, who beat Neuer.

Clear-cut chances were at a premium for a spell, but Bayern upped the ante after 20 minutes and Karl’s curler crashed off the post. Kane fired wide before Bayern were denied by the woodwork again when Bischof’s powerful drive hit the post. A Kane free-kick went over, but Vincent Kompany’s men levelled the scores shortly before half-time, Díaz going down in the box but managing to flick the ball into the path of Guerreiro, who crashed home.

Late reward

Presentable openings were few and far between after the restart, with the away side solid at the back. Bischof saw an effort blocked and a Díaz square evaded friend and foe alike. Pauli dropped deeper and deeper, with Bischof volleying wide before a Kane shot was blocked.

Bayern increasingly camped out in the final third, with Kane also hitting the post. Louis Oppie miscued from a counter in a rare Pauli move forward, but Munich sealed three points at the death when Kimmich’s cross found Díaz, who headed in from close range. Gnabry soon won the ball and Jackson was through to coolly slot away a third. The flag originally went up for offside, but the goal stood on review after the ball came off a St. Pauli player.

The victory takes Bayern onto 34 points from 12 matches, eight clear of RB Leipzig. The Bavarians will be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to face Union Berlin in the DFB Cup round of 16.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen