Bayern Munich started 2024 with a victory after Jamal Musiala’s brace helped the team move 3-0 past 10-men Hoffenheim
Berlin, January 13 (IANS) Championship runners-up Bayern Munich 2024 with a win after Jamal Musiala’s brace helped the team to a 3-0 win over 10-man Hoffenheim in the opener of the 17-match Bundesliga round.
The Bavarians controlled ownership from the opening whistle but lacked accuracy in the final third against defensively-minded Hoffenheim in the early moments, reports Xinhua.
Bayern had to wait until the 18th minute to break the deadlock with their first clear chance when Leroy Sané discovered Musiala, who nailed the ball from a tight angle into the corner of the post.
Hoffenheim looked for a counterattack, but Anton Stach moved away from the central position in the 30th minute.
The hosts posed more danger in front of the target as Hoffenheim goalkeeper Oliver Baumann denied Raphael Guerreiro a goal following a one-on-one seven minutes later.
Baumann remained busy until the closing stages as Joshua Kimmich unleashed a promising header.
After the restart, the Bavarians picked up where they had left off thinking they had doubled the lead, but Harry Kane’s goal was offside in the 55th minute.
Bayern continued on the front foot but remained wasteful as Musiala rattled the woodwork before Thomas Muller failed to make the most of the rebound from very close range.
Hoffenheim remained dangerous on the counter-attack as Maximilian Beier failed to beat Bayer goalkeeper Manuel Neuer with a header on the first minute.
TSG came to life as the match progressed as Andrej Kramaric tested Neuer one-on-one before the unmarked Beier hit the crossbar in succession.
The German giants destroyed any hope of a comeback within a minute when Sane exchanged passes with Musiala, who scored his brace from close range to make it two.
Four minutes later, things went from bad to worse for Hoffenheim as Grischa Promel was sent off for his second bookable offence.
Bayern showed no mercy and took advantage of their numerical merit after Kane scored his 22nd goal of the season to seal out a 3-0 win over Hoffenheim.
“It’s smart to win 3-0 and yet we didn’t play perfectly for the 90 minutes. We still lack calmness and we saw that when Manuel Neuer had to stand guard several times in the second half,” Müller said.
“I saw some smart things, but it wasn’t our most productive performance. We had everything down but almost lost our lead in the second half. The result is perfect, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said the coach. Tomás Tuchel.
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