Bayern Munich make it two wins from two to kick-off the new season
By Tom Vinall
For matchday two of the 24/25 Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich dispatched Freiburg 2-0 with goals from Harry Kane and Thomas Müller sealing the three points at the Allianz Arena on Sunday afternoon.
In his first league game in charge at the Allianz Arena, Vincent Kompany opted for an attack-minded starting line-up, going with; Neuer - Kimmich, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro - Pavlovic, Musiala - Gnabry, Olise, Tel - Kane.
It was a very dour first-half that featured a lot of ball progression for Bayern, but Freiburg were stubborn and sat extremely deep, clogging up all the central spaces and forcing their hosts wide.
After 35 minutes, Bayern were awarded a penalty after the ball was deemed to have hit Maximilian Rosenfelder's arm. A bit soft, but no complaints on Bayern's end.
Kane coolly slotted the penalty into the back of the net and Bayern had the lead, forcing their visitors to push higher up the pitch and not defend so deep.
The second-half, a lot like the first half, was a bit of a non-event, though this time Freiburg were enjoying some more settled possession. Kompany saw things needed a change, making a double sub just before the hour mark, bringing Coman on for Tel, and Müller for Olise. 15 minutes later, Palhinha and Laimer replaced Pavlovic and Musiala with the game still 1-0.
With this appearance off the bench, Müller became Bayern's all-time outright appearance maker, going onto 710, one more than Sepp Maier.
Who else to put the game to bed than the legend himself, who scored with a left-footed strike from inside the box, having been teed up by Gnabry. A perfect way for Müller to cap off a special day for him. Fellow club legend Manuel Neuer ran the length of the pitch to celebrate with and congratulate him on his goal and his achievement.
There was to be a little further drama, as deep into injury time, Palhinha was penalized for handball in the box, in similarly soft circumstances to Bayern's penalty in the first half. No worries, however, as Lucas Holer could not ruin the clean sheet for Die Roten, blazing his penalty, well, well over the bar.
That was that, and Bayern successfully defeated Freiburg 2-0, in a game with much less drama than the opening day win at Wolfsburg, making it two wins from two Bundesliga games. They head into the international break second in the leg, below Heidenheim in first on goal difference.