Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben fired Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg in their opening Bundesliga game of the season...Continue to see full match report...
Despite looking somewhat rusty in the early stages of Friday's clash,
the reigning champions were soon in control and took the lead through
Muller eight minutes before the interval.
The home side were two up within a couple of minutes of the restart
courtesy of a Robben strike, but Ivica Olic pulled one back for
Wolfsburg with a well-struck curling effort five minutes later.
Robert Lewandowski - making his league debut for the Bavarian
giants - should have put the result beyond doubt when he found himself
one-on-one with goalkeeper Max Grun, before substitute Junior Malanda
missed a golden opportunity to claim a share of the spoils.
Pep Guardiola handed 17-year-old midfielder Gianluca Gaudino a first
Bundesilga appearance in the absence of Javi Martinez, Bastian
Schweinsteiger, Thiago Alcantra and Franck Ribery, with the player
becoming the fourth-youngest debutant in the club’s history.
The hosts' contingent of World Cup-winning Germany internationals
were recognised in front of their home fans before kick-off, and it was
one of the heroes of Brazil who had the first shot on goal.
Muller collected the ball from a long-range Philipp Lahm pass, but
his effort from a tight angle was comfortably collected by Grun.
Bayern were not having things all their own way, and a mistake by
Manuel Neuer in the 16th minute almost opened the door for Wolfsburg to
break the deadlock through Olic.
The hosts, though, looked like they were beginning to find their
feet, and Lewandowski was at full stretch to meet another Lahm ball with
a volley shortly before the half-hour mark, drawing a superb one-handed
save from Grun.
And that pressure eventually told when Muller got the slightest of
touches to a Robben cross from the right, diverting the ball beyond a
helpless Grun.
Bayern doubled the advantage less than two minutes after the break as
Robben exchanged passes with Lewandowski before sneaking the ball
inside the left-hand post.
Former Bayern striker Olic pulled Wolfsburg right back into the match
five minutes later with a wonderful left-footed curling effort that
went in off the underside of the crossbar.
Lewandowski should have had a goal of his own to celebrate two
minutes before the hour mark, but was unable to lift the ball over Grun,
before David Alaba fired free-kick straight at the goalkeeper.
Wolfsburg came even closer to finding the net 10 minutes from time.
Max Arnold whipped in a cross to Malanda, whose effort deflected off
Neuer and onto the crossbar, but the striker was unable to sort his feet
out as he inexplicably touched the ball wide from the rebound.
Sebastian Rode saw a goal chalked off for offside and Robben clipped
the bar as Bayern sought comfort, but two goals proved to be good enough
to see off a stubborn Wolfsburg and start their season with a win for
the third year in a row.
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