MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich stretched their lead at the Bundesliga summit to four points as goals from Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane clinched a 2-1 win over a stubborn Werder Bremen.
Having taken advantage of Borussia Dortmund’s slip-up at Bochum to go top last week, Bayern knew an 11th consecutive league title is now in their hands as they travelled to the Weserstadion on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel’s stuttering start at Bayern looked set to continue as Werder held firm for over an hour, but Gnabry’s close-range finish broke the hosts’ resistance before Sane capped a flowing move to make it 2-0.
Though Niklas Schmidt’s stunning strike ensured a nervous finish, Bayern clung on to pile the pressure on Dortmund ahead of their meeting with Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Jiri Pavlenka smothered Gnabry’s shot from a tight angle early on before making an even better save 20 minutes in, blocking Benjamin Pavard’s powerful close-range header.
Werder threatened on the break as Mitchell Weiser went close to converting Romano Schmid’s cross, while Christian Gross fired over at the end of a mazy run.
Gnabry misjudged an overhead kick as Bayern’s pressure mounted after the restart, and then teed up Sadio Mane to side-foot narrowly wide.
It was Gnabry who made the breakthrough just as Bayern seemed to be running out of ideas. The Germany international lost his marker to sweep home from close range after Jamal Musiala’s shot deflected into his path.
Bayern extended their lead 10 minutes later as substitute Sane slotted into the bottom-left corner.
There was a tense finish to come as Schmidt found the top-right corner from long range, but Bayern stood firm to take a huge step towards retaining their title.
Bayern were hoping to avoid any further twists in the title race after leapfrogging Dortmund last week. Since the 2007-08 season, the team topping the Bundesliga table after matchday 30 has always gone on to be crowned champions.
Despite a late scare, Bayern clinched back-to-back wins for the first time under Tuchel, and they are firmly in the driving seat ahead of Dortmund’s meeting with Wolfsburg.
Leaders share the load
Bayern’s attempts to replace Robert Lewandowski have attracted plenty of criticism this term, while an injury to Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting left the champions without an out-and-out striker for Saturday’s game, forcing the supporting cast to step up.
None of Gnabry’s team-mates can better his tally of 11 league goals this term, and he is one of three players to reach double figures for the Bavarian giants, alongside Musiala (11) and Choupo-Moting (10).
Sane, meanwhile, has scored eight times despite starting just 18 of Bayern’s 31 league matches.
Kimmich pulls the strings
In a game in which Bayern required patience, Joshua Kimmich shone with a metronomic midfield masterclass.
Bayern’s stand-in skipper led all players on the pitch for chances created (four) and passes completed (78) as he ran the show, while he also had 113 touches.
What’s next?
Bayern host relegation-threatened Schalke in their next Bundesliga fixture next Saturday, while Werder travel to RB Leipzig one day later.
