Bayern Munich: Goretzka and Lewandowski end Freiburg’s unbeaten run

Matchday 11 of the Bundesliga brought us an exciting match of first place Bayern Munich hosting third place SC Freiburg. Leading up to the game, Bayern were coming off a hot mid-week game after taking down Portugal’s Benfica, 5-2 in the Champions League group stage, and Freiburg being one of only two teams in Europe’s Top Flight to remain undefeated across all competitions (Liverpool being the other remaining).

However, Freiburg’s unbeaten run was put to an end after being taken down by Bayern, who went on to win 2-1.

Immediately from kick-off, both sides looked to be semi-shaky on their defensive ends. Both Bayern and Freiburg were able to find a man unmarked in the final third on numerous occasions throughout the first 10 minutes. This ultimately led to Bayern having their first solid chance which came from their first corner of the game. The cross which was ripped in from Joshua Kimmich, found the head of an unmarked Niklas Sule, but buried the ball into the side netting.

Throughout the beginning of the first half, Freiburg came out very brave in playing with such a high press in their final third, making it difficult for Bayern to get the ball out of their own half. It seemed as though the Freiburg forwards were targeting the newest of the Bayern defense in Dayot Upamecano, hoping the youngster would cough up a mistake, but he managed to remain strong.

After a long period of constant Bayern attack, the Bavarians managed to grab their first goal in the 29th minute. A great passage of team play found Leon Goretzka in front of goal to bury it home, and who else to provide the assist than Thomas Muller, making it his eight through just 11 games in the Bundesliga. The attack started in the defense with some tiki-taka passing between Kimmich and Goretzka, who then charged forward with the ball. Goretzka found an outlet in Muller to his right, who play the ball right back for the score.

To start the second half, the pace of play slowed tremendously for both sides. Freiburg came out looking sluggish as a result of the constant pressure in the first half. The away side sat back and allowed Bayern to build up their possession percentage- though nothing real came from it.

The only excitement coming from the first 20 minutes of the second half was from the initial goal scorer, Leon Goretzka. A cross from Muller parted the sea of Freiburg defenders to find Goretzka for the shot, but rattled off the post. Moments later, another Goretzka shot from distance missed narrowly over the top as it skimmed off the cross bar.

Bayern bagged their second goal to put them two up in 75th minute, coming from the foot of Robert Lewandowski. A shot from Leroy Sane sliced across the face of goal, but was finished by Lewandowski who came sliding in behind the Freiburg line of defense. This take Lewandowski’s goal tally for the 2021 calendar year to a remarkable 60 goals.

In the dying minutes of the game, Freiburg midfielder Janik Haberer was able to bring one back for his side, slotting passed Manuel Neuer. In the end though, this did nothing more than raise the heart rates of Bayern supporters.

In this 2-1 win, Bayern Munich are still sitting atop the Bundesliga table, narrowly ahead of Marco Rose’s Borussia Dortmund. Bayern will be looking to continue this run once club play resumes after the next couple weeks of international break.