Bayern Munich edge past Borussia Dortmund in title defining clash

Bayern Munich clinches a hard-fought victory against Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern Munich took a big step towards the Bundesliga title on Tuesday. The defending champions eased to a narrow 1-0 win over arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, courtesy of an individual goal from Joshua Kimmich. This win helped Hansi Flick’s men to open a seven-point lead over their fierce rivals.

Flick made just one change to the starting lineup that featured against Eintracht Frankfurt. Serge Gnabry started on the left flank ahead of Ivan Perisic. Leon Goretzka continued to play in midfield due to the absence of Thiago Alcantara. Lucien Favre decided to stick with the same starting lineup that won comfortably against Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Dortmund caught Bayern off guard by pressing strongly from kickoff. The home side carved open a great chance inside two minutes when Erling Braut Haaland’s attempt was cleared off the line by Jerome Boateng. Die Roten had to dig deep in the first quarter of the game to contain Dortmund’s waves of attacks.

Boateng showed a great bit of awareness for making blocks to avoid BVB from going ahead. The first chance for Die Roten fell at Gnabry in the 19th minute when Kingsley Coman squared the ball to him in the box. The German forward had beaten the goalkeeper, but his shot was cleared off the line by Lukasz Piszczek.

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The game continued to swing like a pendulum, as both sides had a fair share of dominance throughout the first half. Die Roten were struggling to break BVB’s stubborn five-man defense. After getting into promising positions in the final third, Dortmund were let down by poor final pass.

Die Roten eventually broke the deadlock just before the halftime whistle. It took an exquisite bit of skill to open the scoring in this game. After some great linkup play around the box,  Kimmich chipped the ball in the far corner, beating Roman Burki with ease. It was a big goal going into the half time as Bayern were rewarded for their resilience.

Bayern continued from where they left off at the half time. They surged ahead to find the second goal and almost got it when Coman floated a couple of dangerous crosses. However, none of his teammates could time the run for his crosses.

Dortmund tried to get the hold of the game, but Die Roten were composed on the ball. The visitors slowed down the game and showed patience to break down the home side. BVB had a great chance just at the stroke of the hour mark as Haaland’s shot was blocked by Boateng from close range.

The home side tried to create chances, but Bayern were smart with their approach to see out the game. Mahmoud Dahoud came close to scoring in the 80th minute, but his shot was saved with ease by Manuel Neuer. There were few half chances here and there, but nothing enough to scare the visitors.

Courtesy of this narrow victory, Die Roten opened a seven-point lead over Dortmund at the top of the table. It is now their title to lose, but the upcoming fixtures could still make the title race interesting. Having said that, this win over Dortmund had helped Bayern to take a big step towards the title.

"Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1)NeuerPavard-Boateng-Alaba-DaviesGoretzka-KimmichComan-Muller-GnabryLewandowskiSubstitutes: Ulreich, Odriozola, Martínez (↓Gnabry (87′)), Hernández(↓Boateng (85′)), Mai, Cuisance, Perisic(↓Coman (73′)), Batista-Meier, ZirkzeeBorussia Dortmund (3-4-3)BurkiPiszczek-Hummels- AkanjiHakimi- Dahoud- Delaney-GuerreiroBrandt-Haaland- HazardSubstitutes: Hitz, Schmelzer, Balerdi, Morey, Witsel (↓Dahoud (85′)), Can (Delaney↓(46′)) , Reyna (↓Haaland (72′)), Gotze (↓Piszczek (80′)), Sancho (Brandt↓(46′))"