Bayern Munich entertained Borussia Monchengladbach at the Allianz Arena earlier today hoping to claim all three points and march their way towards the Bundesliga title. The Bavarian giants made a slow start to the game but took the lead in the 26th minute after Joshua Zirkzee pounced on Yann Sommer’s loose pass to strike the ball into an empty net. However, Benjamin Pavard scored an unfortunate own goal just 11 minutes later to make the scoreline level at half-time.
Hans-Dieter Flick’s men grew into the game in the second 45 minutes and made the all-important breakthrough in the 86th minute courtesy of Leon Goretzka’s goal. The match ended with Bayern emerging victorious with a 2-1 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each Bayern Munich player fared during the contest against Borussia Monchengladbach.
GK: Manuel Neuer – 6.5/10
The German keeper made some decent saves during the game, but he will be disappointing after failing to keep a clean sheet today.
RB: Benjamin Pavard – 6/10
The French right-back scored an unfortunate own goal when his attempted clearance ended up with the ball going into the back of his own net. However, he recovered well in the second half and atoned for his earlier mistake by setting up Leon Goretzka with a drilled pass in the 86th minute.
CB: Jerome Boateng – 7/10
He started the game a bit slow but put in a solid defensive shift throughout the 90 minutes. Boateng did enough to restrict the Monchengladbach attackers to just one goal.
CB: David Alaba – 6.5/10
The Austrian defender did well to keep Lars Stindl quiet during the 90 minutes. He put in a commanding display alongside Boateng at the heart of the Bayern backline.
LB: Lucas Hernandez – 6/10
He missed a glorious chance to give Bayern the lead in the 23rd minute when he was denied by Yan Sommer. Hernandez showed promise when he set-up Cuisance with a brilliant pass towards the latter stages of the first half, but the resulting header missed the target from six yards. He ran out of gas in the second 45 and got subbed after the hour mark.
CM: Joshua Kimmich – 7/10
The German distributed the ball immaculately from midfield and created some decent goal-scoring openings for his teammates going forward. His delivery from dead-ball situations was right on the money.
CM: Leon Goretzka – 8/10
He had a relatively quiet first half but came alive when it mattered the most and slotted home the winner from close range in the dying embers of the contest. It was another match-winning performance from him today.
RM: Serge Gnabry – 6/10
The ex-Arsenal attacker was full of energy down the right flank and was not shy about making some driving runs with the ball towards the opposition penalty box. He got two decent opportunities to score in the second half but couldn’t take either of them.
CAM: Mickaël Cuisance – 6/10
He went close to scoring with his thunderous effort early in the game. Cuisance also failed to hit the target with his header from six yards out in the 39th minute. Hans-Dieter Flick finally decided to replace him at the hour mark.
LM: Ivan Perisic – 6/10
The Croatian international had a couple of bright moments in the first 45 but was a spectator in the second half.
ST: Joshua Zirkzee – 7/10
The Dutch youngster maintained his composure to score the opener without breaking a sweat. It was an impressive display from him today.
Substitutes:
LB: Alphonso Davies – 6.5/10
The Canadian whizkid put on a nice, little cameo after coming off the bench.
CAM: Kingsley Coman – 6.5/10
He was full of running and did well to draw fouls from the opposition.
ST: Kwasi Okyere Wriedt – 6/10
The Ghanaian forward failed to hit the target from 25 yards out.
CM: Javi Martinez – N/A
He came on to see out the win for the home side.
