Jackson makes his Bundesliga goal debut
©IMAGO
FC Bayern celebrated their next dominant victory even without their three top scorers around Harry Kane, who had been spared for a long time. Without Kane and the wing aces Michael Olise and Luis Díaz as well as other starting eleven players who were rested for the big Champions League test against Paris Saint-Germain, their representatives convincingly took on the main roles in the 3-0 (3-0) win against Bayer Leverkusen. In the top Bundesliga game, only one team was top.
While Munich won for the 15th time in the 15th competitive game of the season, Leverkusen’s away league streak ended without defeat after two and a half years and 37 games. Bayer acted without any guts in the Allianz Arena.
Serge Gnabry in his 250th Bundesliga game (25th minute), Chelsea loanee Nicolas Jackson with his first league goal (31st) and Leverkusen’s defensive uncertainty Loic Badé with an own goal (44th) made things clear at half-time in what had recently been such a thrilling showdown.
On the day before the Bayern annual general meeting with the certain re-election of Herbert Hainer as president, the offensive power of Kane, Olise and Díaz when they came on after just over an hour was no longer important in determining the winner.
Previously, Kane had repeatedly applauded his colleagues on the sidelines with his hands above his head. Central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Aleksandar Pavlovic also sat on the bench with England’s national team captain and celebrated the goals. They were all allowed to take a breather for the premier class clash on Tuesday against defending champions PSG.
However, in front of 75,000 spectators in the Allianz Arena, there were no breaks at all for Leverkusen’s shaky defense in the first half of the game. The Werkself, which had undergone a major upheaval in the summer, showed no sign of Bayer Leverkusen, who under successful coach Xabi Alonso had duped FC Bayern as double winners in the 2023/24 season. At times the guests surrendered to Munich’s superiority without any resistance.
The first two goals conceded were exemplary of this. After a dream pass from Tom Bischof, Jarell Quansah allowed the energetic Gnabry to escape. The national player scored his 95th goal in his 250th Bundesliga game.
Jackson was not even pressured by his opponents when he scored his beautiful header to make it 2-0 after a cross from Konrad Laimer in the penalty area. A little later, the Chelsea loanee scored again – but was ruled offside.
When Raphaël Guerreiro hit the ball sharply in front of the Leverkusen goal shortly before half-time, Badé directed it into his own goal. The overwhelmed defense chief made his needed evening perfect. Coach Kasper Hjulmand stabilized Leverkusen after the failed project with Erik ten Hag, but has now suffered their first league defeat.
The former Leverkusen defense chief Jonathan Tah was not required to do defensive work when he was reunited with his former colleagues. He therefore helped with clever passes in the opening of the game. After the break, the action on the pitch continued. In the end, Bayern celebrated their first Bundesliga win against Leverkusen in three years.