MY ACCOUNT
Defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich kept up the pressure on surprise pacesetters Union Berlin with a 2-0 win at Hoffenheim.
Julian Nagelsmann had been disappointed his side did not score more in Bayern’s 5-2 win at Augsburg in the DFB-Pokal in midweek.
Bayern were also guilty of letting chances go begging in this league clash against his former club, but goals from Jamal Musiala and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting proved enough for them to come through a tricky test.
They are now a point behind Union, who will be expected to restore a four-point advantage when they visit bottom side Bochum on Sunday.
Serge Gnabry and Choupo-Moting forced Oliver Baumann into early saves and Bayern soon made their superiority count when Leon Goretzka headed a corner into the path of an unmarked Musiala at the far post to tuck home a simple finish.
Goretzka was then too casual with his close-range effort after being teed up by Choupo-Moting, with Musiala’s follow-up from Baumann’s save cleared off the line.
Gnabry saw his effort from a tight angle kept out by Baumann before Sven Ulreich was tested for the first time at the other end following good work from Georginio Rutter.
Musiala hit the side-netting at the end of a well-worked move but the similarly impressive Choupo-Moting made no mistake with an emphatic finish after ghosting into the box to receive a pinpoint return pass from Gnabry.
Bayern took their foot off the gas in the second half, though substitute Marcel Sabitzer might have added a third if not for a fine save with his legs by Baumann.
What does it mean? – Bayern end away drought
Bayern were without a win in their previous three Bundesliga away games and had not gone winless in four such games since 2012.
They were never in danger of that run stretching to a fourth match, increasing their tally of first-half goals this season to 21 in 11 league games and then cruising to a deserved three points.
Musiala’s star continues to rise
The instrumental Musiala now has nine goals in 16 games in all competitions this season, already beating his tally of eight in 40 from 2021-22. The 19-year-old has scored more goals than any other teenager in Europe’s top-five leagues this campaign.
Baumann tough to beat
On another day Bayern would have won by more, but Baumann produced seven saves to at least give Hoffenheim — who are sixth, two points off the top four — hope, though his team-mates never looked like producing a fightback.
What’s next?
Bayern could end Barcelona’s Champions League hopes with victory at Camp Nou on Wednesday. They then return to Bundesliga action against Mainz next Saturday. Hoffenheim visit Cologne a week on Sunday.
