Bayern came into this clash knowing BVB held all the cards after a surprise 3-1 defeat to RB Leipzig last weekend. Their domestic supremacy was under serious threat, but any nerves or trepidation for the visitors were eased early on thanks to Kingsley Coman.
The Frenchman fired Thomas Tuchel’s side in front after he cut inside the box and rifled home an unstoppable right-footed strike past Marvin Schwabe.
News then filtered through the stands of Andreas Hanche-Olsen’s opener for Mainz against Dortmund and suddenly, momentum had shifted Bayern’s way. It would have been impossible to know if that update had been transmitted to the players, but Thomas Muller came agonisingly close to adding a second when his header rebounded off the post.
It promised to be an afternoon full of drama, and Eric Martel nearly levelled the scores with a shot that sailed just over the bar. Leroy Sane thought he had doubled the visitors’ lead with a superb angled finish just seconds before half-time, but it was chalked off after the ball appeared to strike the winger on the arm in the build-up. Nevertheless, after Karim Onisiwo added a second goal for Mainz, Tuchel’s team were in firm control of the title race at the break.
Sane had another opportunity to double Bayern’s lead with a header from Coman’s cross, before the hosts almost restored parity with a header of their own through Davie Selke, who rose to meet Florian Kainz’s corner, only to be superbly denied by Yann Sommer.
There was another twist in the day when Raphael Guerreiro pulled a goal back for Edin Terzic’s side at Signal Iduna Park, while nerves were shredded even further for Bayern fans when Ellyes Skhiri prodded his attempt wide from Jan Thielmann’s header.
Bayern's title hopes were hanging by a thread when Koln were awarded a penalty after a VAR review penalised Serge Gnabry for handball inside the box, and Dejan Ljubicic sent Sommer the wrong way to level the scores.
The title pendulum had suddenly swung back in BVB’s favour, but not for long thanks to a certain Jamal Musiala, who drilled a stunning long-range shot into the bottom corner in the 89th minute.
That strike was enough to hand Bayern a slender win and ensured Tuchel’s side replicated the feats of the 1985/86 and 1999/00 title-winning squads - Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen were replaced at the summit in those two seasons, with BVB now added to that list in 2023/23 despite Niklas Sule’s late equaliser.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich)
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