FC St. Pauli

Head coach Alexander Blessin had to make one change to the side that beat Hoffenheim 1-0 at home last week, Adam Dźwigała coming for Hauke Wahl, who missed the game for personal reasons. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany, without the injured Manuel Neuer, Alphonso Davies and Dayot Upamecano, made a total of four adjustments from the 1-1 draw at Union Berlin. To mark the International Weeks Against Racism and the German Football League Day of Action, “TOGETHER! Stop Hate. Be a Team.”, the Boys in Brown ran out in “No Place for Racism” shirts, while the Bayern players sported special “Red against Racism” jerseys. Before the game kicked off, both teams and sets of fans observed a minute’s silence for former Bayern president Fritz Scherer, who passed away in mid-March.

Bayern had the first chance with just 55 seconds gone when Leon Goretzka met a ball in from Michael Olise on the edge of the goal area, but Nikola Vasilj was on hand to make the save. The home side dictated the play in the opening stages and hogged the possession accordingly, pinning the Boys in Brown back deep inside their own half. After weathering the early storm, the Blessin XI began to push forward, however, and with 12 minutes on the clock Eric Smith was allowed to march through the midfield and unload from 25 metres out, but the ball fizzed a good metre over the top. Just 120 seconds later Smith picked out the advancing Jackson Irvine with a free-kick from the midfield. The skipper got his head to it and the ball took a deflection off Joshua Kimmich before crashing back off the crossbar with Urbig a mere bystander.

At the other end, Kimmich screwed a shot well off target from 20 metres, but from the resulting goal kick the home side took the lead when Siebe Van der Heyden lost the ball to Jamal Musiala on the left, allowing Olise to pick it up and find Harry Kane in the middle. The striker accepted the invitation and slotted a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes. Soon after, Smith curled a free-kick towards goal from more than 25 metres out. It was heading for the top-left corner until Urbig intervened. Back at the other end, Raphaël Guerreiro had the chance to add a second from close range after being played in by Olise, but Vasilj stood tall to make a fine two-handed save.

Not long after that a goal was scored – but at the other end! Noah Weißhaupt knocked a pass out wide to Manolis Saliakas on the right and his low ball in found the unmarked Elias Saad, whose first-time effort slid into the far corner. One-all! Bayern took a while to recover from the goal but gradually began to press again, and after a ball in behind the defence from Olise on 34 minutes Musiala was clean through, but his shot skimmed the side netting. Van der Heyden then got in the way of a Sané shot to stop it crossing the line, and after Vasilj had saved an Eric Dier flick from a corner, the two sides went in all square at the break.

Blessin declined to make a change at the break, whereas João Palhinha entered the fray for Leon Goretzka for the home side, who continued to dominate the possession and had the first chance of the half as a result. Sané tried his luck from distance, but Vasilj gathered with aplomb. Soon after that, Sané popped up in space in front of Vasilj after a long ball from Olise and left the keeper no chance with a left-foot shot into the far corner. Bayern almost added a third two minutes later when Olise fired into the side netting. Blessin responded with his first substitution on the hour, Connor Metcalfe coming on for the ailing Adam Dźwigała to make his first appearance after a long injury layoff. The Australian slotted into the Smith position in midfield, with the Swede dropping back into defence.

The Boys in Brown lacked the penetration of the first half and struggled to break the Bayern stranglehold as a result. Kane hit one well off target on 65 and then Vasilj had to stretch full length to keep out a Musiala effort from a Sané pass, reacting superbly to turn the ball onto the underside of the crossbar. There was nothing the keeper could do a few minutes later, however, when Kane squared the ball from the right to the unmarked Sané, and he found the net from ten metres to make it 3-1.

Blessin’s charges rediscovered their attacking verve as the game entered the final quarter of an hour, breaking down the left to create an opportunity for Danel Sinani to let fly from just inside the box. It was deflected wide, however, and the resulting corner came to nought. At the other end, Musiala aimed too high from range before Blessin threw on Lars Ritzka and Abdoulie Ceesay for Manolis Saliakas and Danel Sinani.

His side rallied again and Urbig did well to turn a deflected Metcalfe effort round the post for a corner. Soon after, Ritzka marched upfield from his own half and steered a shot into the bottom right corner from 20 metres to halve the deficit. That was the last of the action, however, and the Boys in Brown had to accept defeat after a fighting performance.

Bayern Munich

Urbig - Laimer (Stanišić 85’), Dier, Kim, Guerreiro (Ito 58’) - Kimmich, Goretzka (Palhinha 46’), Olise, Musiala (Gnabry 76’), Sané - Kane (Müller 85’)

Head coach: Vincent Kompany

FC St. Pauli

Vasilj - Dźwigała (60. Metcalfe), Nemeth, Van der Heyden - Saliakas (82. Ritzka), Irvine, Smith, Treu - Sinani (82. Ceesay)- Weißhaupt, Saad (72. Afolayan)

Head coach: Alexander Blessin

Goals: 1-0 Kane (17’), 1-1 Saad (27’), 2-1 Sané (53’), 3-1 Sané (71’), 3-2 Ritzka (90’+3)

Yellow cards: Guerreiro, Olise, Palhinha

Referee: Florian Badstübner (Nürnberg)

Attendance: 75,000 (sold out)

Photos: FC St. Pauli/Witters