Bayern Munich come on top in seven-goal thriller against Holstein Kiel | OneFootball

On Saturday afternoon, Bayern Munich returned to Bundesliga action, welcoming Holsten Kiel to the Allianz Arena for match day 20.

For the task at hand, Vincent Kompany opted for a line up of; Neuer - Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro - Kimmich, Pavlovic - Olise, Musiala, Coman - Kane.

Bayern make it difficult for themselves against Holstein Kiel

After 12 minutes of the game, Kiel went close - but Phil Harres could not convert from close range. It was a huge let-off for Kompany's side, who had made a slow start to the game.

The wakeup call given by Holstein Kiel helped Bayern to get in the groove. After Olise was played in behind in the 19th minute, he squared the ball with his right foot for Musiala, who slotted the ball in the bottom corner.

Just before the half-hour mark, Kiel came close to finding the equalizer. Following a quick break, Lewis Holtby found himself unmarked in the box, beating Neuer with his effort - but Kim Min-jae was well positioned to clear the ball off the line.

With less than a minute of stoppage time remaining, the ball was played out wide to Kingsley Coman. The Frenchman went down on the outside, before chipping a delicate cross in the box. An unmarked Harry Kane calmly planted a header into the back of the net, giving Bayern a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

At half-time, Kompany introduced Serge Gnabry for Olise. Hopefully, there is no serious injury concern for Olise and it was a precautionary substitute.

Just a minute into the second half, Kane scored his second and Bayern had tripled their lead. After Coman had been set in behind, he laid the ball back off for Guerreiro - who whipped the ball in for the England captain, scoring his second header of the game. Three minutes later, it was so nearly four. After a Musiala effort was tipped over the bar, the resulting corner fell to Pavlovic, but he could not keep his header down, firing over the bar.

Inside nine minutes into the second half, Bayern made it 4-0. Gnabry excellently controlled a loose ball, which in turn set himself up for a volley - which he hit expertly with his weaker left foot, straight into the top corner. A sublime goal from the German forward.

After 58 minutes, Kompany made a triple change. On came Joao Palhinha, Thomas Muller, and Leroy Sane - to replace Pavlovic, Coman, and Kane. Three minutes later, Kiel got a goal back.

With five minutes to go, a lovely cross from Muller was met by Sane, with only an acrobatic save keeping it out of the top corner. Though the ball bounced around the box after that, Bayern could not force the ball into the net

Straight after, Aznou replaced Guerreiro, for only his second-ever appearance in the Bundesliga - amidst talk of a potential loan for the youngster.

In stoppage time, Kiel got a second from a cutback. Then, a minute later, they got a third - making it a ridiculously unnecessarily nervy end to the game. After the third, Kiel went on another run down the left, though it was cut out. From this move, Bayern countered and Gnabry had a shot cleared off the line.

Luckily, from then the remaining moments were all played in the Kiel half, and it finished 4-3. The win was the most important thing, and Bayern did get that, ticking off another three points - but there needs to be a serious inquest into what happened in the added time as they came close to throwing away the good work done in the second half. For a while Bayern looked formidable defensively, but not even close anymore.

They may have got away with it today, but they won't be against better teams. Play like that against Celtic and they'll fail to win, never mind Bayer Leverkusen in a couple of weeks. Big win, poor performance from Kompany's men.