FC Bayern left no stone unturned against Borussia Mönchengladbach to open the 25th Bundesliga matchday. Despite the absence of striker Harry Kane, the Munich side recorded a well-deserved 4-1 victory
In a dominant first half, FC Bayern created promising scoring chances early on. Lennart Karl in particular showed where the journey would take them this evening with an offside goal and a beautiful flick. The first two goals, however, came from Luis Díaz and Konrad Laimer
After Nicolas Jackson was brought down in the penalty area, Jamal Musiala scored from the spot at the start of the second half, but Jackson also scored after a fine pass from Lennart Karl. Wael Mohya added Gladbach’s consolation goal shortly before the end to make the final score 4:1
Despite rotation, Bayern appear to be more than ready for the Champions League this week, with the first leg of the tie at Dortmund’s dreadful Atalanta Bergamo awaiting them on Tuesday
Díaz and Laimer put Bayern ahead
Munich almost took the lead as early as the tenth minute. After Leon Goretzka played a strong pin pass to Lennart Karl, the youngster fired the ball into the net from close range, but was immediately whistled back by the referee for offside
A good quarter of an hour later, Karl was dangerous again when he aimed for the corner after another pass from Goretzka, but Moritz Nicolas in the Gladbach goal was able to make the save
A little later, however, Goretzka got his assist. After Minjae Kim found him in a central position in front of the penalty area, he chipped the ball to Luis Díaz, who gave Nicolas no chance with his direct shot in the 33rd minute
However, Díaz was to add to his tally before the break. After Nicolas Jackson won the ball, he played the ball into the left half-space to Díaz, who in turn passed across the six-yard box to the completely free-standing Konrad Laimer. The Austrian was able to take the ball before slotting it past Nicolas, who again had no chance, into the net for a 2-0 half-time lead
Musiala scores his first Bundesliga goal of the season
The second half began almost as the first had ended: Laimer got some Bayern fans cheering, albeit wrongly, as his shot from around 16 meters only rattled the outside of the net
Jamal Musiala provided the first real celebration of the second half in the 57th minute, after Nicolas Jackson had been brought down by Rocco Reitz in the penalty area. Referee Robert Schröder pointed to the spot and Musiala converted safely into the bottom right corner to score his first goal of the current Bundesliga season
Jackson was also rewarded for his committed performance. Karl broke through on the right flank and put the ball into the five-metre area, where the Kane substitute converted the pass to make it 4:0. Shortly before the final whistle, Gladbach substitute Wael Mohya was able to make the final score 4:1.