PLAYER RATINGS | Bayern Munich 3-0 Werder Bremen | OneFootball

Bayern Munich comfortably beat Werder Bremen 3-0 to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table, temporarily, to nine points.

A forgettable first 45 as Bayern were expectantly dominant for the whole half but was too slow in their play and just seemed rather passive. The hosts at the majority of the chances but apart from a glancing header from Harry Kane just before halftime, never really produced anything that caused Michael Zetterer any major issues. For Bremen, they were not entirely pinned back in their own half and did produce some half chances on the counter, but were unable to get a shot on target.

In the second half, Bayern started off hot when Kane hit the cross bar within 30 seconds of the whistle. Werder held on, but the inevitable happened a penalty for Bayern due to a handball, which could be considered questionable. The penalty was scored by Harry Kane to give the hosts the lead.

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The penalty was Kane’s ninth penalty goal of the season out of the 21 goals he has scored in the Bundesliga. For further context, in Robert Lewandowski’s record breaking 41 goal season in 20/21, he scored eight penalties. While what is even more impressive in Gerd Müller’s 40 goal season to set the record in 1971/72, he scored three.

Bayern have also been handed nine penalties this season, the next highest is VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen on five.

Make of these stats what you will.

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Bremen were never really able to get back into the game after the Kane penalty and the game kind of died out as we approached full time. Substitue Leroy Sané then scored with his first touch of the game to make it 2-0 and secure the win for Bayern. However, Bayern were then awarded a clear penalty when Jamal Musiala was tripped up by Anthony Jung, you know who scored it.

The win means that Bayern move, temporarily, nine points clear of Bayer Leverkusen which is big especially with the big week ahead with an away game against Celitc in the Champions League and then the ‘big one’ against Leverkusen next Saturday.

However, as the season has gone on, Bayern have looked progressively less impressive in their wins, and at times look like they are just scraping by. The win tonight on paper looks better then it actually was due to the two penalties from Kane. The all conquering and all domenering Bayern from earlier this season, just seem to win now due to their opponents putting up very little of a fight.

If Bayern do not improve in their performances, Leverkusen could cause them several issues next week.

Bayern Munich:

Manuel Neuer (6), Sacha Boey (6), Dayot Upamecano (6), Min-Jae Kim (6), Raphaël Guerreiro (5), Aleksandar Pavlovic (7), Joshua Kimmich (7), Michael Olise (6) Jamal Musiala (7), Kingsley Coman (5), Harry Kane (6)

Others: Konrad Laimer (6), Leon Goretzka (-), Leroy Sané (-), Josip Stanisic (-)

Werder Bremen:

Michael Zetterer (7), Amos Pieper (5), Milos Veljkovic (5), Anthony Jung (5), Mitchel Weiser (5), Senne Lynen (5), Jens Stage (5), Derrick Köhn (5), Justin Njinmah (5), Marvin Ducksch (5), Marco Grüll (5)

Others: Skelly Alvero (5), André Silva (5), Oliver Burke (-), Issa Kaboré (-)

GGFN Man of the Match: Jamal Musiala (7)

Helped make the result look a lot more concingy than it actually was. His pass helped play through Konrad Laimer who assisted the second goal, while his trademark mazy run resulted in the final penalty which Kane converted. Musiala will be important if Bayern are to beat Leverkusen next week (I keep mentioning it as it is a make or breakgame for the title race). Michael Zetterer also deserves credit as for most of the game he kept Bremen in it, making nine saves this evening.

GGFN | Jack Meenan