Bayern Munich looked to maintain the pace with Bayer Leverkusen as they hosted their bogey team Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Allianz Arena.
The first half summed up the type of game Bayern were involved in when within the first 10 minutes they had several clear-cut chances but were unable to convert them as Gladbach kept them out. Then against the run of play, Nico Elvedi latched onto a loose ball from Manuel Neuer, and played a one-two with Jordan before slotting the ball past the keeper like a seasoned striker. Bayern were able to equalise just before halftime through Aleksander Pavlovic who finished off a team move.
In the second half, Bayern gained greater control of the game and finally took the lead in the 70th minute from a Harry Kane header. Bayern would secure the lead in the 86th minute when Matthijs de Ligt scored the third.
Bayern maintain the two-point gap between them and Leverkusen in first, who they face next week at the BayArena.
Bayern Munich:
Manuel Neuer – 5
Noussair Mazraoui – 6
Matthijs de Ligt – 6
Eric Dier – 6
Alphonso Davies – 7 – After a string of poor performances, Davies showed what he was capable of in attack and defence. The Canadian kept his opposite number Franck Honorat quiet for the whole game and was active in attack starting the move that led to Harry Kane’s goal.
Aleksander Pavlovic – 7 – Once again, the failure to sign Joao Palhinha in the summer has massively helped Pavlovic. After his first senior goal last weekend, Pavlovic got his second to equalise for Bayern. During his time on the pitch, you would not know that he is 19 as he has seemingly slotted into the midfield. If Bayern are to sell one of Joshua Kimmich or Leon Goretzka in the summer, there may not be a need for a replacement.
Leon Goretzka – 6
Leroy Sané – 6
Thomas Müller – 6
Jamal Musiala – 6
Harry Kane – 6
Others: Sacha Boey (5), Mathys Tel (5), Raphaël Guerreiro (-)
Borussia Mönchengladbach:
Moritz Nicolas – 5 – After a strong start to the game making several keys saves to keep Bayern out, Nicolas’ decision to try and collect the ball led to Bayern taking the lead and Gladbach’s ultimately collapse.
Joe Scally – 6
Marvin Friedrich – 5
Nico Elvedi – 6
Franck Honorat – 4 – Everything he tried did not work. Davies consistently tracked down Honorat and showed that he can be slightly one-dimensional. Out of Honorat’s 10 cross, he only completed two and rarely did they result in anything.
Rocco Reitz – 6
Julian Weigl – 6
Florian Neuhaus – 6
Luca Netz – 4 – Similar to Honorat, Netz was not really up to it on the attacking part of the game. Like most of the Gladbach team, they were sound defensively for most of the game until Kane took the lead but when it came to attacking he offered nothing.
Jordan – 5
Nathan Ngoumou – 5
Others: Stefan Lainer (5), Manu Koné (5), Robin Hack (6), Shio Fukuda (-), Grant-Leon Ranos (-)
GGFN | Jack Meenan
