Bayern Munich recover to earn 5-2 win in Berlin
Bayern travelled to the German capital on the back of a 5-0 loss to Borussia Mönchegladbach in the DFB Cup second round, but quickly set about restoring order. Leroy Sane fired off an early warning shot, before Lewandowski sank a penalty following a handball decision against Paul Jaeckel. Lewandowski added a second with a superb free-kick straight off the training ground involving Joshua Kimmich and Müller. The Poland international then showed a sensational piece of control and over-the-shoulder pass for Sane, who was denied by an equally impressive Andreas Luthe save. Sane did add a third when he turned in a Kingsley Coman cross, helped on at the near-post by Müller, but Union hit back late in the half when roaming left-back Niko Gießelmann slapped a well-worked effort past Manuel Neuer. Only the linesman’s flag prevented Sheraldo Becker from further reducing the arrears.
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The all-out action continued into the second half, with Union asking all the questions and Becker causing Josip Stanisic all manner of problems. The Union forward was twice thwarted by Neuer, either side of whipping a telling pass just out of Taiwo Awoniyi’s reach in the Bayern six-yard box. The record champions responded in kind as Müller completed a hat-trick of assists with a through-ball for Coman to lash high past Luthe as his near-post. Union substitutes Kevin Behrens and Julian Ryerson combined to halve the deficit less than three minutes later, but fatigue took its toll and Bayern duly landed the knockout blow. Substitute Dayot Upamecano was allowed to carry the ball a good 50 yards, before laying the ball off for Müller to arrow with unerring accuracy into the top left-hand corner. It remained one-way traffic for the remainder of a thrilling contest played at 100 miles per hour.