Harry Kane scored from open play for the first time since November, helping Bayern Munich to a narrow 2-1 win over Freiburg to extend their unbeaten H2H record over the Breisgau-Brasilianer to 18 matches in all competitions.
Perhaps a little shell-shocked after their surprise 3-0 UEFA Champions League defeat to Feyenoord in the week, Bayern took a little while to find their footing, but Jamal Musiala got their confidence up by whipping a shot against the post on 12 minutes, setting the stage for the opener.
Eric Dier advanced past the halfway line down the right and fizzed a ball into the feet of former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Kane, who expertly swivelled past Philipp Lienhart and rocketed a low shot under Noah Atubolu from the edge of the area.
While Bayern don’t usually have too much trouble in Freiburg – having not lost any of their last eight here – they had only kept clean sheets on two of 10 previous visits, but there looked little danger of that record being extended in the first half. Ritsu Dōan showed some promise for the hosts, but Bayern were in full control aside from that, going into the break in a comfortable position despite hardly racking up attempts on the Freiburg goal.
Perhaps fearing an onslaught in the second half, Matthias Ginter came on for Freiburg after the break and immediately intervened to stop Musiala from toeing in Kane’s cross.
However, from the resulting corner, Joshua Kimmich whipped it straight towards goal, where Kim Min-Jae beat Atubolu to it to deflect in the second.
Freiburg looked incensed by that goal, and they soon responded with their own corner when Ginter glanced in from Dōan’s delivery – the first goal scored by a Freiburg substitute this season.
Hoping that lightning would strike twice, Julian Schuster introduced Junior Adamu and Michael Gregoritsch to the forward line, but there wasn’t enough time for an equaliser despite the Austrian duo’s efforts.
This fifth league victory on the bounce, coupled with a slip-up from Bayer Leverkusen, extends Die Roten’s advantage to six points in what is now the fifth-best 19-match start to a Bundesliga season of all time.
Freiburg may have slipped further from the top six as a result, but they will look to upcoming fixtures against Bochum and Heidenheim for a potentially more reliable source of points.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kim Min-Jae (Bayern Munich)