Bayern Munich restored their six-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table with a hard-fought 3-2 win over St. Pauli yesterday. The victory marked a return to winning ways for Bayern, who had drawn their previous two matches.
The match got off to a flying start, with Harry Kane opening the scoring for Bayern in the 17th minute. The English striker’s league-leading 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Michael Olise’s pinpoint cross. St. Pauli, however, refused to back down and equalized through Elias Saad’s strike in the 26th minute.
Bayern reasserted their dominance in the second half, with Leroy Sané scoring twice in the 53rd and 71st minutes to put the hosts 3-1 up.² Sané’s brace was a testament to his clinical finishing, and Bayern’s attacking prowess ultimately proved too much for St. Pauli to handle.
Despite a late consolation goal from Lars Ritzka in stoppage time, Bayern held on for a deserved win. The victory was marred by an injury to defender Hiroki Ito, who was unable to play the final minutes of the match.
Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund praised his team’s performance, saying, “It was a deserved win, just we made it unnecessarily exciting at the end with the goal we conceded”. The win takes Bayern six points clear of their nearest rivals, and they will look to build on this momentum in their upcoming matches.
The defeat leaves St. Pauli languishing in 15th place, two points clear of the relegation zone. Despite a valiant effort, they were ultimately unable to contain Bayern’s attacking might.