Bayern Munich maintained their impressive pre-season record with a 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena. Nathaniel Brown netted his first goal for the Bavarians since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the summer, whilst Ismael Saibari marked his debut with a stunning assist for Jamal Musiala.
In front of near-full crowd at the Allianz Arena, it came as little surprise that Vincent Kompany’s men started the stronger of the two sides. They quickly established an early lead after a defensive mix-up at the back for Leipzig resulted in a one-on-one for Luis Díaz. It was a chance the Colombian winger took with aplomb as he curled a lethal finish past Maarten Vandevoordt.
Bayern fell into their rhythm, dominanting possesion for much of the first half and taking a deserved lead in at the break. However, after the restart, Leipzig flew out of the traps seemingly with a point to prove. Half-time substitute Johan Bakayoko went close three times before Brajan Gruda equalised with a sumptuous volley.
Parity would not remain for long though, as minutes later, Aleksandar Pavlović slipped Brown clean through on goal, with the former Eintracht Frankfurt man nutmegging Vandevoordt to claim his first goal in a Bayern shirt on his Allianz debut.
Kompany then made wholesale changes, introducing – among others – Jamal Musiala, whilst also handing a first appearance to Saibari. The subtitutions would ultimately pay dividends in the game’s closing stages, as Saibari danced past multiple defenders in the Leipzig box before teeing up Musiala for Bayern’s third of the afternoon.
Despite an impressive showing – particularly from his new signings – there will be cause for concern for Kompany, however, given that Konrad Laimer, Minjae Kim and Musiala all had to leave the field throughout the game with injuries.
