Olise punishes late Freiburg error as Bayern survive dramatic comeback scare

Michael Olise capitalised on a costly mistake from Mio Backhaus in stoppage time to seal Bayern Munich’s victory at Freiburg, after the hosts threatened a dramatic late comeback.

Having both been unable to secure victories in Europe during the week, Freiburg and Bayern Munich met at the Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday evening, with both sides looking to return to winning ways.

After smoke from pyrotechnics in the stands forced a brief stoppage inside the opening minute, it was Julian Schuster’s side who made the more encouraging start, showing little fear against the reigning Bundesliga champions.

Freiburg were more than matching their visitors in the opening exchanges, with Patrick Osterhage firing wide from distance as the hosts looked to make their early pressure count.

However, Bayern struck first in the 16th minute, courtesy of a remarkable counterattack led by Dayot Upamecano.

As Niklas Beste hesitated on the edge of the Bayern penalty area, the French defender blocked his eventual effort before immediately bursting forward to join the attack.

Having covered almost the entire length of the pitch, Upamecano picked up an excellent through ball from Michael Olise, then showed the composure of a seasoned striker to slot past Mio Backhaus and give the visitors the advantage.

Despite falling behind, Freiburg kept probing Bayern, with Lucas Höler seeing an effort inside the box blocked by Upamecano as the hosts searched for a response.

The home side kept up with the record champions, but Bayern’s attacking quality proved decisive once again as the first half neared its end.

In the 43rd minute, Nathaniel Brown slipped Serge Gnabry through on the left side of the penalty area, and the Germany international finished well from a tight angle near the corner of the six-yard box to double Bayern’s lead.

After competing impressively for much of the opening period, Freiburg faced a mountain to climb heading into the interval.

And they got off to a strong start as they looked to begin that ascent, with Derry Scherhant testing Jonas Urbig with a free kick two minutes into the second half. 

However, as much as the hosts found themselves with half-chances in the Bayern half, they couldn’t break through what was a rock-solid defence for most of the evening. 

At the same time, Bayern continued to show their quality, with substitute Ismael Saibari presented with multiple opportunities out of nothing as Der Rekordmeister chased a third. 

The Moroccan and Harry Kane would then force Backhaus into a big double save in the 80th minute through efforts in the box, before Die Breisgauer finally had their moment at the other end. 

Attacking the left side of the box, substitute Vincenzo Grifo slipped in Jordy Makengo, who nutmegged Sacha Boey before his slide across the box found the back of the net via Bayern midfielder Tom Bischof, and all of a sudden, it was game on in Freiburg.

With the clock ticking, Freiburg took control, with Yuito Suzuki, Igor Matanovic and Cyriaque Irie playing their part in a scramble inside the box that the Bayern backline eventually cleared.

In the 91st minute, Urbig would make a seismic save to deny Matthias Ginter, whose header was destined for the top left corner, while Bayern had five minutes of additional time to navigate to see out the win. 

However, Freiburg’s hopes of a dramatic equaliser were extinguished in the 95th minute, as Michael Olise dispossessed Backhaus well outside his penalty area before calmly rolling the ball into the unguarded net from distance, sealing all three points for Bayern in extraordinary fashion.

After a difficult week, Bayern sealed the three points to top it off, with next weekend’s clash with Borussia Dortmund now in their sights.