13:40
Bayern Munich 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen: Ribery
gives Guardiola's side a narrow win
The Frenchman's second half strike was enough
to ensure the home side's unbeaten start to the
campaign keeps going
Dec 6, 2014 20:24:00
Franck Ribery's 100th Bayern Munich goal earned
the Bundesliga champions a 1-0 victory over
Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
The winger, who also became the Frenchman with
the most German top-flight appearances, broke
the deadlock early in the second half as Bayern
maintained their perfect home league record this
season.
Leverkusen were left to rue their failure to
capitalise on a promising first-half showing, when
they blunted the hosts' prolific attack and wasted
two excellent early openings.
Ribery's strike changed the game entirely as
Bayern grew in stature after the break, threatening
to double their advantage on several occasions.
But one goal proved enough for Pep Guardiola's
side to restore their seven-point lead at the
summit.
The visitors were denied a surprise lead inside the
opening three minutes when a defensive mix-up
allowed Karim Bellarabi through to clip a shot
over Manuel Neuer, but Juan Bernat did brilliantly
to slide in and divert the ball away just before it
crossed the line.
Roger Schmidt's side spurned another
presentable opportunity in the seventh minute as
Son Heung-min's delivery flashed across the face
of goal, narrowly eluding the reach of Stefan
Kiessling.
Despite dominating possession, Bayern offered
little threat in the final third, with Robert
Lewandowski restricted to a peripheral role by a
well-marshalled Leverkusen defence.
Indeed, Schmidt's biggest concern in the first half
was the sight of Kiessling going down injured
following an innocuous challenge with Rafinha,
although the Leverkusen stalwart did return after
treatment.
The only other notable moment for Bayern before
the interval was Arjen Robben's disallowed goal,
the Dutchman half-volleying into the net after the
whistle had gone for a foul on goalkeeper Bernd
Leno.
And yet it took just six minutes of the second half
for the champions to break the deadlock as Ribery
volleyed home a left-footed strike from inside the
box to ease the air of frustration around the
Allianz Arena.
That foreshadowed a spell of concerted Bayern
pressure, with Robben's attempted cross hitting
the post after clipping Leno's right leg, while
Lewandowski somehow found the side-netting
after his own cross had been diverted back to him
in front of an unguarded net.
Leverkusen showed commendable resolve to stay
in the contest and managed to mount a few late
attacks of their own, though Hakan Calhanoglu's
wasteful free-kick summed up their lack of
precision in the final third.
Bayern ultimately saw out the remainder of the
game with relative comfort to seal a 10th
consecutive home Bundesliga win, with tempers
briefly flaring in the closing stages following
Bellarabi's lunging challenge on
substitute Sebastian Rode.
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