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Harry Kane after scoring to make it 1-0
Photograph:
THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
On the last matchday of last season, FC Bayern clinched the next league title with a win in Cologne in the dramatic long-distance duel with Borussia Dortmund. And now the Munich team experienced another successful away trip and won 1-0 (1-0) at the bottom of the table at the start of the twelfth matchday of the Bundesliga.
The win puts Bayern in first place, one point ahead of Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Coach Xabi Alonso's team will be challenged at Werder Bremen on Saturday (15:30 CET/ TV: Sky).
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel left veteran Thomas Müller on the bench despite the absence of Jamal Musiala. Instead, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting started alongside Harry Kane.
The two attackers were also the main protagonists in Munich's opening goal: After Cologne lost possession just outside the Bayern penalty area, the record champions quickly switched gears, Leroy Sané served Choupo-Moting, whose shot was blocked by Cologne's Jeff Chabot. However, the deflected ball landed right at the feet of Kane, who scored his 18th goal of the season on matchday 20 (<>th minute). Never before has an Englishman scored more goals in a season in the Bundesliga.
Before and after that, the Bavarians left a lot on the table. Timo Hübers deflected the ball onto his own post after a cross (6'), keeper Marvin Schwäbe defused an attempt by Sané (7'), and Choupo-Moting was also denied by the strong Swabian (22'). The bottom of the table often tried to attack far up front to put Bayern under pressure. This created gaps, which the Munich team used again and again for attacks.
Cologne only had one chance in the first half, Rasmus Carstensen tried it with a header, Manuel Neuer was able to save (31').
Cologne is getting stronger, but not necessarily
In the second half, Cologne made the spaces tighter. As a result, Bayern hardly had any clear chances, but Cologne also did not create enough to equalise.
The players could see the strain of the past few weeks on the wet Cologne pitch, Bayern coach Tuchel complained the day before the game about the high workload and complained that the Bavarians had to get back to work on Friday after the international break. Nevertheless, he refrained from making any substitutions, and Sané, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, who have recently been disappointing in the DFB jersey, also played through.
Bayern's Kingsley Coman could have made the preliminary decision, but headed against the crossbar from close range (77'). Nothing more happened.
kjo