Berlin: Leaders Bayern Munich have opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the standings after Joshua Kimmich’s sole goal was enough to down runners-up Borussia Dortmund 1-0 at the curtain raiser of the 28th round in Bundesliga.
Tuesday, the “BVB” started brightly at home and should have opened the scoring with less than a minute played but Erling Haaland nutmegged Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer just to see Jerome Boateng clear the ball off the goal line, reports Xinhua news agency.
Bayern needed some time to gain a foothold into the clash meanwhile Dortmund got another chance on target through Julian Brandt in the 4th minute.
As the match progressed, the German giants assumed control and had a promising effort on target from Serge Gnabry, whose shot was defused by Lukasz Piszczek on the goal line with 19 minutes played.
Every now and again Dortmund broke through but they lacked in accuracy besides Bayern’s defence was always alert as long as Haaland approached the goal.
The visitors eventually broke the deadlock before the break as Hansi Flick’s men pressed Dortmund into the defense allowing Kimmich to chip the ball from the edge of the box over custodian Roman Burki, who got his fingertips on the ball but was caught flat footed.
After the restart, both sides exchanged attacks as Neuer had to be on target to deny Mahmoud Dahoud before Kingsley Coman and Leon Goretzka tested Burki in quick succession.
Just when Bayern were about to score their second goal Dortmund created another promising chance but Botang was once again in between to deny Haaland the equalizer from inside the box.
The hosts pressed frenetically but Bayern’s defense stood firm to keep a clean sheet. Robert Lewandowski had the golden opportunity to round off the win with a goal but the post denied his 28th goal of the season.
With the result, Bayern remain on the top spot with a seven point advantage meanwhile Dortmund recorded their fifth loss of the season to suffer a setback in the title race.
IANS
