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Brussels - Bayern Munich did not have it all their own way in 2 -1 win against a spirited Anderlecht side in a Champions League Group B clash in Brussels.
Match Summary
It was the hosts who came out of the blocks quickly and missed some good chances in the first half through Adrien Trebel and Lukasz Teodorczyk, as Bayern struggled initially.
After the break, Robert Lewandowski got the opening goal largely against the run of play before Sofiane Hanni equalised. Nonetheless, a below-par Bayern got the victory with Corentin Tolisso heading home.
Match Report
Without a point to their name in Group B, RSCA started surprising well and came close to scoring in the eighth minute. After a deflection off Marco Friedl fell to Trebel on the edge of the area, quick work from goalkeeper Sven Ulreich denied him the shot.
Nine minutes later they went even closer as Dennis Appiah found space on the edge of the area, but his low shot was saved by Ulreich.
Bayern were struggling to settle in the contest and just before the half-an-hour mark were fortunate not to concede. Sven Kums sent in a cross into the box and Trebel connected with a great header that skidded out just to the left of the near post.
Incredibly, Teodorczyk spurned arguably an even better chance moments later as he ran on to Pieter Gerkens' superb through-ball to beat the offside trap. With just Ulreich to beat the forward fired wide of the right post.
After the interval, the German champions made them pay the price as Lewandowski scored from a close-range tap-in in the 51st minute from Tolisso's square pass. A few minutes later the Poland star came close to making it 2-0 when he raced on to Arturo Vidal's pass into the box but poked his strike just wide.
However, in the 63rd minute Anderlecht got the goal their pressure deserved as Teodorczyk's header from Trebel's cross from the left picked out Hanni, who scuffed home a messy equaliser.
The home team had further half-chances not long afterwards although it was Bayern who took the advantage again just before the 80th minute mark. When Joshua Kimmich's cross from the right picked out Tolisso, he headed home with ease.
Anderlecht appeared to be deflated after playing so well and going behind, yet they did have the ball in the back of the net from Hamdi Harbaoui's tap-in just before the end. However, it was correctly ruled out for offside as Bayern took the three points at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.
