Match Report: Bayern Munich overcome St. Pauli to secure hard fought win
By Tom Vinall
For matchday ten of the 24/25 Bundesliga season, and the final game before the November international break, Bayern Munich were in action away to St. Pauli, and secured an important win thanks to Jamal Musiala.
For the task at hand, Vincent Kompany opted for a line up of with a bit of rotation; Neuer - Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies - Kimmich, Goretzka - Sané, Musiala, Coman - Kane.
The first-half was very much like the first-half against Benfica in mid-week, with St. Pauli sitting incredibly deep and allowing Bayern to knock the ball around in deeper areas, without threatening in the final third.
Fortunately, mid-way through the first half, Musiala got on the ball and drove forward, before unleashing a cannon of a shot that hit the underside of the bar and went into the back of the net. The 21-year old has scored some good goals in his career, but that was no doubt one of the best so far.
After 70 minutes, Laimer and Gnabry replaced Guerreiro and Coman. 12 minutes later, Olise and Palhinha replaced Sané and Goretzka.
With four minutes of the second half remaining, the first thing of note happened. Kane slipped Musiala through on goal with an exquisite through ball, but he could not get his second of the game, firing over when well placed.
It would be his last touch of the game, as soon after, he was replaced by Müller in Bayern's fifth and final change of the game. Bayern would not be made to pay for that miss, getting over the line for their second hard fought win in as many games this week, with another 1-0 victory.
There is still work to be done, but 26 points from 10 games is a good start to the season. Particularly with Aleksandar Pavlović out for a few weeks, and defenders like Josip Stanisic, Sacha Boey, and Hiroko Ito all unavailable too.
Something to note is how the defensive side is improving too. Bayern have kept four Bundesliga clean sheets in a row for the first time since December 2018. St. Pauli had just three shots today — totalling 0.08xG.
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