MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich put pressure back on Borussia Dortmund as they battled to a 1-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
The leaders were kept at bay by Oliver Glasner’s side until Leroy Sane struck with 19 minutes of normal time remaining.
The victory, a first against Glasner for Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann in his Bundesliga coaching career at the sixth attempt, moved the champions nine points clear of Dortmund at the top of the table ahead of their clash with Augsburg on Sunday.
Frankfurt largely contained Bayern in a cagey first half, although Kevin Trapp had to make a strong double save to keep out Joshua Kimmich’s volley and Kingsley Coman’s follow-up.
Robert Lewandowski was denied following a good throughball from Serge Gnabry and Trapp sprung to keep out another effort from the striker two minutes later.
Just at it looked like Bayern were running out of ideas, Kimmich slid the ball through to Sane in the box, and the winger kept his composure to slot past Trapp.
Frankfurt mounted some late pressure, leading to a few scrambles in the Bayern box, but Sven Ulreich was mostly untroubled in goal.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting ignored a free Sane, shooting straight at Trapp when a cross seemed the better option, but Frankfurt could not punish the error.
What does it mean? Bayern title charge firmly on track
Bayern’s lead at the top now stands at nine points with 10 games to go, and anything other than a Dortmund win over Augsburg will leave their own title hopes looking forlorn.
Given the tough nature of the match and the fact Nagelsmann had never previously got the better of Glasner with Bayern or RB Leipzig, this will have felt like an hugely important win.
Kimmich holds the key
Unsurprisingly, it was Kimmich who finally opened the Frankfurt defence, his excellent pass to Sane finished in style.
That was one of five chances created by the Germany international, the most in the match by any one player along with Gnabry.
Trapp deserved better
Trapp made eight saves in the match and generally commanded his area superbly, so it was unfortunate he had to be on the losing side.
At the other end, Ulreich only faced a single shot on target in the game, highlighting Frankfurt’s difficulty in finding an equaliser.
What’s next?
Bayern are at Bayer Leverkusen on March 5, while Frankfurt travel to Hertha Berlin.
