PLAYER RATINGS | Bayern Munich 3-1 St. Pauli – Díaz and Jackson leave it late as Kompany’s side extend lead | OneFootball

Bayern Munich secured a comeback win against a resilient St. Pauli side, who succumbed to a ninth successive defeat in the Bundesliga.

After Andréas Hountondji opened the scoring after six minutes, Raphael Guerreiro equalised for Bayern. It was almost a famous point at the Allianz Arena for Pauli, but stoppage time goals from Luis Díaz and Nicolas Jackson secured a 3-1 win.

Bayern Munich rewarded despite St. Pauli’s defensive resilience

Vincent Kompany made four changes to the team that lost 3-1 at Arsenal, their first defeat of the 2025/26 campaign which ended Bayern’s 18-match unbeaten run. Dayot Upamecano missed out completely, with Kim Min-jae replacing the Frenchman. There was also starts for Tom Bischof, Luis Díaz and Guerreiro.

Coming into the game on the back of eight straight Bundesliga defeats, St. Pauli were happy to sit in a low block, allowing Bayern plenty of the ball which saw Aleksandar Pavlović fire over in the opening stages.

Despite dominating possession, Bayern were stunned when Pauli took the lead after six minutes through Andréas Hountondji, who scored his fourth Bundesliga goal of the season. The on-loan Burnley forward capitalised on Konrad Laimer’s defensive error, firing the ball low past Manuel Neuer. It was the third successive Bundesliga game in which Bayern have conceded the first goal.

Kompany’s side upped the ante as they chased an equaliser. Lennart Karl, who scored against Arsenal, fired a curling left-footed shot towards goal, which bounced back off the left-hand post. Tom Bischof would then see his effort strike the post after 35 minutes.

Bayern were then rewarded with the equalising goal just before the break with Guerreiro rifling the ball high into the net after a deft flick from Luis Díaz.

With the game level, Kompany then brought on Michael Olise for the second half but Bayern were unable to find a way through Pauli’s resilient defence. Eric Smith and Arkadiusz Pyrka produced notable blocks to deny Pavlović and Harry Kane.

Pauli continued to ride their luck as Kane was the third Bayern player to see his effort hit the post with Serge Gnabry unable to convert the rebound as Bayern continued to look for the winning goal, and they were eventually rewarded through Díaz.

The Colombian made an excellent run into the penalty area to meet Joshua Kimmich’s cross, heading home in the third minute of stoppage time, before Nicolas Jackson added a third for Germany’s record champions, who scored their 44th league goal after 12 matchdays to send Kompany’s side eight points clear.

Bayern Munich 3-1 St. Pauli Player Ratings

Bayern Munich: Manuel Neuer (5) – Konrad Laimer (4), Jonathan Tah (6), Kim Min-jae (6), Tom Bischof (6) – Joshua Kimmich (7), Aleksandar Pavlović (7) – Lennart Karl (6), Raphaël Guerreiro (7), Luis Díaz (7) – Harry Kane (6)

Others: Michael Olise (7), Josip Stanišić (6), Serge Gnabry (5), Leon Goretzka (-), Nicolas Jackson (-)

St. Pauli: Nikola Vasilj (6) – Hauke Wahl (5), Eric Smith(7), Karol Mets (6) – Arkadiusz Pyrka (6), James Sands (5), Lars Ritzka (7), Joel Chima Fujita (6), Jackson Irvine (7) – Andréas Hountondji (6), Mathias Pereira Lage (7)

Others: Daniel Sinani (5), Louis Oppie (-), Abdoulie Ceesay (-), Connor Metcalfe (-)

GGFN | Man of the Match: Eric Smith (7)

The Swede made may have made an error for Bayern’s goal, but he was a standout performer for Alexander Blessin’s side, who put in an excellent defensive display to keep the scores level deep into added time. Smith – per FotMob – made the most defensive contributions of any player.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder