Bayern beat Benfica with Musiala header

FC Bayern beat Benfica 1-0 on Wednesday night to seal three crucial points in the Champions League. Bayern were dominant from the off but had to wait for almost 70 minutes until Jamal Musiala scored what proved to be the winner.

Bayern lined up with Manuel Neuer in goal and Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Minjae Kim and Alphonso Davies in defence. Joshua Kimmich and João Palhinha anchored a midfield featuring Michael Olise, Musiala and Serge Gnabry, with Harry Kane as the target man. Leroy Sané, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Müller took over from Olise, Gnabry and Musiala in the second half.

Goalless first half

After a minute's silence for the victims of the floods in Valencia, Bayern dominated possession, with clear-cut chances few and far between at first. Gnabry had a shot blocked before Laimer fired wide and a Kane effort was saved.

Munich continued to push for an opening goal, and Benfica keeper Anatoliy Trubin parried another Kane shot before saving Gnabry's rebound. Musiala saw a deflected effort saved as the the contest remained goalless at half-time.

Musiala breaks the deadlock

Bayern kept probing after the restart with Olise seeing a free-kick saved before Kane hit the side netting. Palhinha fired over and Trubin made two fine saves against Sané, who helped up the tempo following his introduction.

Vincent Kompany's men finally broke the deadlock when a Sané cross found Kane, whose header invited Musiala to nod in and continue his good run of form. Trubin denied Coman and further chances came and went for Musiala, Kimmich and Kane as Bayern claimed a deserved victory to climb up  to 17th in the standings at the halfway point of the league phase.

Bayern will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to face St. Pauli in the Bundesliga.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen