Kane sends FC Bayern to the top of the table for the time being
And again and again Harry Kane: Despite unusually short preparation and careless exploitation of chances, Bayern Munich also won at their new favorite opponents 1. FC Köln and took over the lead of the Bundesliga table, at least for 19 hours.
English goalscorer Kane scored his 18th goal of the season (20th minute) in an unnecessarily tight 1-0 (1-0) victory to secure the team's tenth away win in a row in Cologne. The previous success had given Bayern their eleventh championship title in a row 181 days earlier.
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel had mockingly spoken of a "glorious fixture list" and a "sensational schedule" in the run-up to the match in view of the international trips from which some Bayern players only returned on Thursday. Contrary to usual practice, his team only arrived by private jet on the day of the match - in contrast to the 2-1 defeat in the DFB Cup at third-division side 1. FC Saarbrücken three weeks ago, things went well this time.
FC slipped to last place, at least temporarily, at the start of matchday 12. The five remaining pre-season games against mainly fellow competitors such as Darmstadt, Mainz, Freiburg, Union Berlin and Heidenheim will now be of fundamental importance.
Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart had switched to a back three. The fact that winger Linton Maina became a left-back in the first half was almost as creative as national team coach Julian Nagelsmann's transfer of Kai Havertz to the national team.
Tuchel had changed his team in four positions, including giving Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting preference over Thomas Müller in attack. One of the reasons he gave for this was his strength "in defending standard situations".
But the Cameroon international also had the first chance in the 5th minute when he narrowly missed. It was the starting signal for an extreme phase of pressure from Bayern.
First, Cologne defender Timo Hübers was saved by the post from scoring an own goal (6th minute), then Leroy Sané missed a hundred percent chance in front of FC goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe when he tried to lob the ball (7th minute) instead of pushing it over. And then Cologne suddenly had the 1:0 on their heels, but Jan Thielmann failed to beat Manuel Neuer (10).
The hosts now seemed to be better in the game - and ran into a counter-attack in their exuberance: A shot from Choupo-Moting was cleared off the line by Jeff Chabot, but Kane converted the follow-up shot. The action almost repeated itself a minute later, but Schwäbe prevented Choupo-Moting from making it 2-0.
Sané, who was once again very conspicuous despite his poor chance-taking, missed narrowly again (27'). Although Neuer also had to save a treacherous header from Rasmus Carstensen (31'), Bayern should have been well ahead at the break.
After the changeover, however, Cologne were more compact and Bayern, despite having more and more possession, hardly found any gaps and did not create any good opportunities for a long time. In the 78th minute, Kingsley Coman had a great chance to put the game beyond doubt, but his header hit the crossbar.
Three minutes later, the Frenchman missed the ball from a promising position. Coach Tuchel was not pleased with the unnecessary nail-biter, but in the end his team managed to hold on to their narrow lead.
Despite their league position, 1st FC Cologne faced a tough challenge against FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, with England's prolific striker Harry Kane playing a crucial role. Kane's goal in the 20th minute from a Choupo-Moting rebound was the decisive one, helping Bayern secure a tight 1-0 win and maintain their position at the top of the table, albeit temporarily, due to rival teams having matches later in the day.
Source: www.dpa.com
