Koln 1-3 Bayern Munich: Serge Gnabry scores stunner but 4/10 star flops | OneFootball

Bayern Munich came from behind to secure a 3-1 win in the Bundesliga against Koln at the RheinEnergieStadion on Wednesday night. 

Serge Gnabry scored his 99th goal for Bayern, while Kim Min-jae and Lennart Karl were on the scoresheet as the German champions go 11 points clear at the top.

Linton Maina put Koln ahead with a brilliant goal, but Bayern made the best use of their leaky defence, with the home side failing to keep a clean sheet in their last 13 games.

Koln vs Bayern Munich: Match report

(Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)

The home side started brightly and produced a dangerous attack within the opening two minutes, with Said El Mala coming close to giving them a lead.

The dazzling winger was put through on goal with a lovely pass, and his right-footed effort was superbly saved by Manuel Neuer.

The match was halted for around 12 minutes due to smoke from fans’ pyrotechnics, much to the players’ frustration.

Upon resuming, Bayern started to exert their pressure. Luis Diaz made a great run from the left-hand side and produced an intelligent pass to Hiroki Ito, whose left-footed shot was saved by goalkeeper Marvin Schwabe.

Two minutes later, Harry Kane and Michael Olise combined to create a dangerous move, with the Frenchman testing the goalkeeper to make a save.

Serge Gnabry tried his luck from distance with hits with great power, but the Koln goalkeeper was in a good position to make a strong save.

However, Schwabe nearly made a fool of himself when he casually attempted to receive a back pass, missed it, and was very lucky it went just outside the goal frame.

In the 37th minute, Ragnar Ache ran into the channel and tried to curl past Neuer with his left foot from the edge of the box, but went agonisingly wide off target.

In the 40th minute, Koln took the lead through Linton Maina. The 26-year-old nearly ran from outside of his own box and took the ball to the opposite end in a breathtaking counterattack, and struck firmly with his left foot, beating Neuer.

Leon Goretzka, who arguably played his best game of the season,  made an acrobatic volley from the edge of the box, but couldn’t test the keeper.

In the stoppage time of the first half, Serge Gnabry produced a phenomenal goal and gave a reminder to Bayern bosses why he deserves a new contract. The German international took the ball from Olise and created space for himself with an audacious chip, and then managed right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right to the high centre of the goal.

In the second half, Olise could not make the best use of a free-kick from a very promising position, as he managed to hit straight at the keeper.

In the 56th minute, Kim Min-jae produced a terrific piece of defending to deny Jakub Kaminski, who was put through on goal by Ache. The South Korean was the final defender chasing him, and he did really well.

Moments later, Kaminski attempted a brilliant right-footed volley from outside the box, but Neuer was equal to the task to prevent the danger.

Goretzka surged into the box and made an effort on goal, but could not keep it on target after receiving a pass from Gnbary.

Bayern took the lead in the 71st minute through a well-worked set-piece. Diaz crossed it wide, and Ito did well to keep it on target, and Kim Min-jae headed into the net to give his team the lead. It was also his first goal of the season.

The tempo slowed down a bit in the second half as Bayern focused more on controlling the game, especially after the second goal.

Bayern sealed all three points when Lennart Karl, who came on as a substitute, scored his fourth Bundesliga goal of the season. Kane produced a brilliant pass to initiate a strong attack through Diaz from the left. The Colombian dribbled past players to cut inside and passed it to Karl, who coolly finished with his left foot.

The Bavarian giants maintained their lead at the top of the table, with 47 points from 17 games.

Bayern player ratings

Manuel Neuer – 4, Konrad Laimer – 6 , Min-jae Kim – 8, Jonathan Tah – 6, Hiroki Ito – 8, Aleksandar Pavlovic – 6 , Leon Goretzka – 7 , Michael Olise – 7, Serge Gnabry – 8, Luis Diaz – 6, Harry Kane – 6.

Substitute

Dayot Upamecano, Lennart Karl, Tom Bischof.