Bayern Munich ended a difficult week on a strong note, clinching a 3-1 win against St. Pauli on Saturday. It was a hard-earned win as Bayern had to score two goals in added time to get the three points. Courtesy of the home win on Saturday, Bayern extended their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to 12 games.
Vincent Kompany made several changes to the starting XI. Dayot Upamecano was given complete rest as Kim Min-jae in the starting XI to play alongside Jonathan Tah in the heart of defense. Tom Bischof started in the left-back position, while Raphael Guerreiro started in an attacking position behind Harry Kane. Lennart Karl got his third consecutive start for Bayern.
The hosts started the game well, dominating possession and creating their first chance in the fifth minute. However, a mistake at the back from Konrad Laimer set up a dangerous chance for St. Pauli. Mathias Pereira Lage played a perfectly weighted pass for Andreas Hountondji after dispossessing Laimer. The 23-year-old forward calmly slotted the ball in the net to stun Allianz Arena.
Bayern recovered from this shock goal and pinned St. Pauli in their half. The hosts were dominating possession, but couldn’t create clear-cut chances as St. Pauli defended resolutely and gave limited space to work for Bayern forwards. Lennart Karl almost got the equaliser in the 22nd minute as his curled attempt from the left flank rattled the far post.
Tom Bischof also had his venomous strike from outside the box rattle the post in the 34th minute after taking a kind deflection. Harry Kane came close to scoring with a well-taken free-kick a few minutes later.
Bayern were just not getting the rub of the green until the 44th minute. Just before the half-time whistle, Raphael Guerreiro scored the equaliser. Luis Dias received an aerial pass from Kim Min-jae. The Colombian controlled the pass beautifully, but he was brought down. Diaz expertly poked the ball in the path of Guerreiro while falling. The Portuguese defender deposited the ball into the net with a clever finish.
Bayern’s patience paid dividends in the second half
Kompany made a key change at halftime to add more impetus to the attack as Michael Olise came on for Konrad Laimer. Despite the change, the hosts had a quiet start to the second half. Luis Diaz had the ball in the net at the hour mark, but the linesman quickly raised the flag to rule it offside.
Die Roten kept on recycling possession, but St. Pauli were making it difficult for them to create chances. Harry Kane’s low right-foot finish was brilliantly blocked by Arkadiusz Pyrka in the 71st minute. The English hit the woodwork a few minutes later after a brilliant delivery from the corner by Joshua Kimmich.
After defending brilliantly for the entire second half, St. Pauli had the chance to win the game in the 90th minute. Since Die Roten had committed men ahead in the attack, the visitors caught them on the break in a 3 vs 2 situation. Joel Fujita played a pinpoint pass to Louis Oppie after excellently carrying the ball over a long distance. However, Oppie couldn’t sort his feet and get the shot past Manuel Neuer.
It felt like the game was destined to be a draw. However, things changed completely in the added time. Joshua Kimmich delivered a brilliant cross from the right flank to find Luis Diaz in the box. The Colombian headed the ball past the goalkeeper to win the game in the third minute of the added time.
Bayern added icing on the cake by scoring a goal a couple of minutes later. Serge Gnabry nicked the ball from the last St. Pauli defender. Nicolas Jackson pounced on the loose ball and calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 3-1.
It was not a vintage performance from Bayern, but they deserved to win considering the fact that they had hit the woodwork on several occasions and created good chances to score more goals.