Bayern narrowly beat Frankfurt: But Davies worries overshadow success | OneFootball

FC Bayern won their home game against Eintracht Frankfurt 3-2 on the 23rd Bundesliga matchday. The record champions clearly dominated the game for a long time, but had to tremble at the end. The success was overshadowed by the injury-related substitution of Alphonso Davies.

Vincent Kompany made six changes from the 3-0 win in Bremen, with Jonas Urbig again deputizing for the injured Manuel Neuer in goal. Stanisic, Upamecano, Minjae Kim and Davies started in defence, with Kimmich and Pavlovic forming a double-six in the center. Olise, Musiala and Díaz started behind Harry Kane in attack.

Munich controlled proceedings from the outset, with Frankfurt standing deep and hardly able to relieve pressure. The deserved lead came from a short corner: Olise crossed, Collins failed to clear the ball properly and Aleksandar Pavlovic shot straight at him from around 18 metres. The ball slipped under Kauã Santos‘ hands – 1:0 (16′).

Bayern followed up just four minutes later, when Stanisic headed over an Olise corner and Harry Kane got through in the five-yard box to make it 2-0 (20′). The league leaders remained clearly superior, but failed to capitalize on further chances.

Davies shock and wild final phase

photo: Getty Images

The bitter moment of the afternoon came shortly after the break: Alphonso Davies was left sitting after a tackle, held his ankle and needed treatment. The Canadian was able to leave the pitch on his own, but was replaced by Hiroki Ito in the 50th minute, visibly shaken.

After several changes, Frankfurt got into the game a little better and had a great chance to equalize through Burkardt, but only hit the post (62′). Bayern struck again with ice-cold precision during this phase. Kimmich intercepted a build-up pass and immediately laid it off to Kane, who struck precisely into the left corner from around 20 metres – 3:0 (68′).

The match seemed to be decided, but took another twist. Following a VAR intervention, referee Tobias Reichel awarded Frankfurt a penalty after Kane had hit Højlund on the foot in his own penalty area. Jonathan Burkardt converted safely to make it 3:1 (77′). Kompany reacted and brought on Bischof and Gnabry for Pavlovic and Musiala.

And things got really tight once again: In the 86th minute, the Munich defence made a serious mistake in the build-up. Kimmich played a risky cross into his own penalty area, Kim hesitated – Arnaud Kalimuendo sprinted in between and slotted in from close range to make it 3:2.

Championship summit awaits in Dortmund

Frankfurt threw everything forward in the nine minutes of stoppage time. Götze had a great chance to equalise from the left-hand corner, but his direct shot went just over the goal (90.+5). Kompany brought additional stability for the final minutes with Tah and Goretzka. Despite further advances by Frankfurt and a total of nine minutes of stoppage time, Bayern ultimately held on to their narrow lead.

The win extends FC Bayern’s lead at the top of the table to nine points. Borussia Dortmund can cut the gap to six points again this evening in the top match at RB Leipzig, before a direct clash in Dortmund next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eintracht Frankfurt will host SC Freiburg on Sunday.