Bayern Munich grind out big win against RB Leipzig

Bayern Munich dug deep to come away victorious from the Red Bull Arena on Saturday. Goal from Leon Goretzka in the first half made sure that Rekordmeister beat their title rivals. Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer made sure that Leipzig was kept at bay to clinch an important victory in the Bundesliga.

Hansi Flick was forced to make three changes to the team that defeated VfB Stuttgart in the last round. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting replaced injured Robert Lewandowski in the attack. Lucas Hernandez and Joshua Kimmich replaced suspended Jerome Boateng and Alphonso Davies. The German manager also opted for Leroy Sane over Serge Gnabry in the attack.

RB Leipzig also made a couple of changes for this game. Dayot Upamecano replaced Marcel Halstenberg in central defense, while Kevin Kampl was replaced by Nordi Mukiele in the starting XI.

It was not a chaotic start to the game, as RB Leipzig had reportedly planned to hurt Die Roten. Both teams were going toe to toe, restricting each other from creating chances in the game. The defenders and midfielders went toe to toe, winning individual duels to keep attacking players quiet in the final third.

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After more than half an hour of intense football, which at times felt like a game of chess between both managers, Die Roten opened the scoring through a very well-worked goal. Thomas Muller went to the byline and showed great composure to get his head up and find Goretzka at the edge of the box. The German midfielder hammered the ball past Peter Gulacsi to get a much-needed lead in the 38th minute.

Die Roten ended the half strongly by piling on the pressure in Leipzig’s third. Sane almost scored the second goal of the game by sweetly striking a volley from the edge of the box. Gulacsi showed great reflexes to smother the shot.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men came firing all cylinders in the second half. They were aggressively pressing higher up the pitch, inducing mistakes from Die Roten’s back four. At one point, Niklas Sule found himself in trouble when Leipzig was pressing high, but he played the ball out from the back comfortably.

Manuel Neuer also had to make two to three big saves to keep Leipzig. The home side was peppering the goal throughout the game, but Rekordmeister managed to keep the composure and clinch a victory. The win made sure that Bayern went seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. It was not a vintage performance but a gritty one that bodes well ahead of some games against Paris Saint-Germain.

"RB Leipzig (3-1-4-2)GulacsiKlostermann-Orban-UpamecanoAdamsMukiele-Olmo-Sabitzer-HaidaraNkunku-ForsbergSubstitutes: Martinez, Tschauner, Samardzic, Kluivert (↓Forsberg (46′)), Hwang (↓Adams (82′)), Konate (↓Poulsen (88′)), Philipp, Poulsen (↓Olmo (73′)), Sorloth (↓Haidara (73′)), HenrichsBayern Munich (4-2-3-1)NeuerPavard-Sule-Alaba-HernandezKimmich-GoretzkaSane-Muller-ComanChoupo MotingSubstitutes: Nubel, Gnabry (↓Coman (72′)), Martinez (↓Sane (81′)), Sarr, Roca, Nianzou, Dantas, Scott, Musiala (↓Goretzka (72′))(↓(‘))"