Serge Gnabry scores 100th Bundesliga goal as Bayern beat Freiburg to reclaim top spot
Serge Gnabry scored his 100th Bundesliga goal as Bayern Munich eased past Freiburg to reclaim top spot in Germany’s top flight.
Freiburg 1-3 Bayern Munich
Goals: 0-1 Upamecano 16' (assist: Olise), 0-2 Gnabry 42' (assist: Brown), 1-2 Bischof og, 1-3 Olise 90’+5
Aaron Danks - standing in for Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany - made five changes to the Bayern team that started the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. Jonas Urbig replaced the injured Manuel Neuer in goal, while Jonathan Tah, Nathaniel Brown, Michael Olise and Lennart Karl were all restored to the starting XI.
The hosts also made five alterations to the side that started their UEFA Conference League reverse in Monaco on Thursday. Philipp Treu, Philipp Lienhart, Patrick Osterhage, Derry Scherhant and Lucas Höler came in, with Max Rosenfelder, Christian Günter, Vincenzo Grifo and Igor Matanović dropping to the bench. Yannik Engelhardt was out through injury.
First-half double puts Bayern in command
The hosts were more than a match for Bayern in the early stages, but they fell behind with just 16 minutes on the clock. Dayot Upamecano won the ball near his own box, exchanged passes with Olise before keeping his cool in front of Mio Backhaus to put the visitors ahead.
Chances remained at a premium as the first half wore on, but Bayern were at their clinical best in the final third. With three minutes of the half remaining, Gnabry played a one-two with Brown before slotting another composed finish beyond Freiburg keeper Backhaus for his 100th Bundesliga goal.
Freiburg rally but Olise has final say
Bayern continued to dominate possession after the restart and went close to extending their advantage through Kane, who sent a header over the crossbar, and substitute Ismael Saibari, who was denied by Backhaus from a tight angle.
However, Freiburg pulled a goal back out of nothing when Vincenzo Grifo's low cross was turned into his own net by Bischof. The home side threw caution to the wind after that, and almost restored parity when Matthias Ginter's late header was kept out by Urbig.
But Bayern - and Olise - had the final say as Backhaus surrendered possession inside this own half, allowing the winger to roll the ball into the unguarded net to seal a hard-fought win.
Man of the Match: Dayot Upamecano
Having opened the scoring with a composed finish after winning the ball in his own box, Upamecano went on to produce an influential display.
He had more touches than any of his team-mates, registered the second-best passing accuracy, and won an impressive 58 percent of his duels to help Bayern see out the win.
Bundesliga Match Facts
xGoals: Freiburg 1.37 - Bayern Munich 2.25
Fastest player: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), 33.37 km/h
Lowest goal probability: 0-2 by Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), 14 percent
Pass efficiency: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), +2.56
