Bayern return to winning ways against St. Pauli

FC Bayern beat St. Pauli 3-2 on Saturday afternoon to consolidate their lead in the Bundesliga. Harry Kane and Elias Saad traded goals in the first half. Leroy Sané bagged a brace after the restart before Lars Ritzka scored a consolation goal in added time as Munich claimed a narrow but deserved victory.

The Bavarians started with Jonas Urbig in goal and Konrad Laimer, Eric Dier, Minjae Kim and Raphaël Guerreiro in a back four. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka anchored a midfield featuring Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala and Sané, with Kane up front. João Palhinha came on for Goretzka at half-time, with Hiroki Ito, Serge Gnabry, Josip Stanišić and Thomas Müller taking over from Guerreiro, Musiala, Laimer and Kane in the second half.

Level at half-time

Goretzka saw a header saved and a Laimer shot was blocked before the away side enjoyed a spell in command. Urbig saved Noah Weißhaupt’s cross-cum-shot and Eric Smith fired over before Jackson Irvine’s header crashed off the bar.

Bayern soon re-asserted their authority and took the lead when they won the ball in St. Pauli’s half, with Olise’s cutback inviting Kane to slot home. Urbig denied Smith and Guerreiro saw an effort saved, but the men Hamburg levelled the scores when Saad found the net from Manolis Saliakas’ cross. Kane soon had a goal chalked off for offside. Musiala fired just wide and Sané saw an effort cleared off the line. Musiala saw another shot blocked as the scores were level at half-time.

Brace for Sané

Sané saw a shot from distance saved but soon restored Bayern’s lead, latching onto Olise’s fine through ball and smashing past keeper Nikola Vasilj. Olise hit the side-netting, Kane miscued and Musiala was denied by a combination of Vasilj and the bar, but Kane’s square invited Sané to put away his second to give Bayern some breathing space.

Musiala fired just over and Urbig saved a deflected Connor Metcalfe shot before Ritzka crowned a solo run with a shot into the far bottom corner of the net to pull one back deep in added time, but Bayern deservedly sealed victory.

The result means Bayern have 65 points from 27 matches, six clear of Bayer Leverkusen. The Bavarians will be back in action on Friday when they travel to face Augsburg.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen