Harry Kane equalled Robert Lewandowski’s half-season Bundesliga goalscoring record with a late strike but it was Jamal Musiala who provided the real cutting edge in Bayern Munich’s 3-0 victory over 10-man Hoffenheim.
The England striker clipped home left-footed from 12 yards in added time for his 22nd goal in 16 games to match the man whose number nine shirt he inherited following his summer move from Tottenham. Kane now has next week’s home match against Werder Bremen to surpass Lewandowski’s tally by the halfway stage of the campaign.
But on a night when the death of Bayern great Franz Beckenbauer was marked with a number of tributes – the outside of the stadium emblazoned with the words ‘Danke Franz’ – it was the mercurial talents of the 20-year-old Germany international Musiala which lit up the Allianz Arena and moved his side within a point of leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
The first of his two goals secured a new record for the German champions, who have now scored in 65 successive home league fixtures to beat their own Bundesliga record set between 1970 and 1974.
Musiala opened the scoring in the first half with a shot from a narrow angle which goalkeeper Oliver Baumann could have dealt with better before converting a simpler 70th-minute effort to secure the result on a night of half-chances and missed opportunities.
Grischa Promel’s 74th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card ended the visitors’ hopes of staging a late comeback, although that appeared unlikely after failing to capitalise on their only good spell of the game midway through the second half when Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer marked his 500th club appearance with two good saves.
Bayern’s players all wore Beckenbauer’s number five during the warm-up, their match shirts also carried the words ‘Danke Franz’ and there was a period of silence before kick-off.
Once the game began, the hosts failed to create anything before they took the lead with their first shot in the 18th minute.
Hoffenheim were guilty of switching off as Bayern took a quick corner and that allowed Leroy Sane to picked out Musiala in space and he beat Baumann from the narrowest of angles via the far post.
It was Bayern’s 50th league goal in their 16th game and Hoffenheim’s 12th fixture without a clean sheet.
The only surprise was the home side’s failure to press home their dominance, the winter break appearing to have dulled their invention as all they could muster was a Raphael Guerreiro effort, teed up by Kane, which was comfortably turned around the post.
Hoffenheim’s best of limited opportunities saw Andrej Kramaric’s shot easily caught by Neuer.
Kane thought he had teed up Sane for Bayern’s second 10 minutes after half-time but it was ruled out for offside against the England captain, who continued to look one of Bayern’s biggest threats with a shot narrowly deflected wide.
Musiala then hit the post from distance with Thomas Muller unable to turn home the rebound and Konrad Laimer and Alphonso Davies were both denied by Baumann as Bayern began to ramp up the pressure.
But they were almost made to pay for not taking their chances as Neuer was forced into two great saves, first from Maximilian Beier’s close-range header and then Kramaric as he raced through on goal.
Even when Neuer was beaten by Beier’s volley, the ball crashed against the crossbar and that was to prove even more costly.
Musiala doubled his tally by converting Sane’s return pass and Kane grabbed his customary goal late on.
Croatia 2-1 Scotland: Kramaric rounds off comeback as visitors denied by late drama
Andrej Kramaric's 70th-minute header was enough for Croatia to clinch a 2-1 victory over Scotland, with the visitors denied a last-gasp equaliser.
The forward completed the comeback after Igor Matanovic cancelled out Ryan Christie's opener, but Kristijan Jakic's blushes were spared as his last-second own goal was disallowed for an offside against Che Adams.
In a fairly even first half, Christie got the breakthrough, latching onto Luka Sucic's sliced attempted clearance, and bundling the ball over the line with help from Duje Caleta-Car.
However, just under four minutes later, Croatia were back on level terms as Ivan Perisic cushioned the ball to Matanovic, who drilled his low shot into the bottom-right corner.
The hosts upped the pressure after the break, and Sucic thought he had given them the lead, only to have his goal chalked off for a foul in the build-up.
And they got their reward when Craig Gordon pushed away Borna Sosa's volley, with Kramaric on hand to nod it in from close range when it looped into the air.
Adams had already sent a looping effort wide of the far post in his search for an equaliser and thought he had finally got it after pressuring Jakic into poking it over the line. However, he had done so from an offside position so VAR ruled it out, and Scotland were denied a first point this Nations League campaign.
Data Debrief: Scotland suffer more late heartbreak
Late drama seems to follow Scotland everywhere in this competition at the moment - they lost their first two games in the competition due to late goals despite putting up a fight.
As such, Scotland extended their longest winless run in competitive matches in their history (P9 D3 L6), while they have now lost four consecutive games for the first time in five years, last doing so in October 2019.
The match-winner, Kramaric, scored his 30th goal for Croatia on his 99th appearance, with more than half of these (16) coming since he turned 30, while he has scored twice as many goals (eight) than any other Croatian player since the start of 2023.
'It certainly doesn't help' - Eidevall fails to concede Arsenal title hopes after Chelsea loss
Jonas Eidevall failed to concede Arsenal's hopes of winning the Women's Super League title after falling to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates on Saturday.
The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth place in the early-season standings having taken just five points from their opening four games of the season.
Mayra Ramirez and Sandy Baltimore handed the visitors a two-goal advantage early on, with Caitlin Foord's fine individual effort before half-time proving to be just a consolation.
It brought an end to a dismal week for Eidevall, having watched his side lose their Champions League opener 5-2 to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
"It certainly doesn't help, but as I said before, the only way is to go game by game," Eidevall said on his side's hopes of winning the title after their poor start to the campaign.
"We are disappointed with the result and the start today, but I am very proud of the heart that the players showed."
But following Chelsea's first two goals, it was Arsenal who were in the ascendency, creating the better of the chances in north London but failing to make them count.
The Gunners registered 20 attempts during the contest, but only four of which were on target, rarely troubling visiting goalkeeper Hannah Hampton for the most part.
Though Arsenal find themselves already four points behind the early-season pacesetters, Eidevall still believes he is still the right man to lead the Gunners forward.
"I gave my absolute everything. You can see that the players certainly gave everything on the pitch too, and that is the thing you can control," Eidevall said.
"I think the way that the players played with the heart on the pitch, I can't ask for anything more," he added when asked if he had the backing of his players.
"It showed in the way that they played that they were giving their absolute everything on the pitch."
Chelsea, meanwhile, continued their fine start under Sonia Bompastor, building on their impressive win against Real Madrid in midweek with a triumph over their fierce rivals.
But it was anything but comfortable for the Blues, who managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.35 from their efforts during the second half.
"For sure it was a tough game, we were expecting that. It's always good to win, three points are three points," Bompastor said.
"But I wish my team were able to play the ball better in the second half. The quality of the players we have, we should be able to produce more.
"Good moments, we need to enjoy them and have fun."
Ederson lauds 'sometimes annoying' Guardiola
Ederson says it is an honour to be a part of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, though admitted the manager can be "sometimes annoying".
The goalkeeper joined City in June 2017 and has since kept 113 clean sheets in 257 Premier League appearances, more than any other goalkeeper in the competition since his debut.
He has won 15 major trophies with City, including six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and a Champions League title, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup under Guardiola.
While on international duty with Brazil, Ederson attended an event for Children's Day and was asked if Guardiola was nice, annoying or angry by one child.
"You're going to get me in trouble," Ederson told ESPN Brasil. "He's all three.
"He's a nice guy, he's sometimes annoying, in the sense of [being] demanding, because he has to [be] demanding to a professional [player], and he's also angry when he has to be angry.
"So he has a mixture of all three. But he's a nice guy off the pitch, and he's a very, very demanding guy on it. And he's also a guy who gets angry like any other person, like any other coach, when things don't go well or when the team doesn't play well.
"Of course, we know that we're not going to be able to play 70 games at a brilliant level. Of course, in one game or another, there's going to be a dip."
Under Guardiola, City became the only English club in history to hold all five trophies – Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup – in a calendar year (in 2023).
In the English top-flight, Guardiola has overseen 311 games since July 2016, winning 230 of those (D43 L38). He has a 73.95% win percentage in the competition and averages 2.36 points per game.
And Ederson believes the Spaniard, who has been named the Premier League manager of the season five times, has changed football in the competition.
"I've been able to play a big part in the project," he said. "You take everything Guardiola has built up with the group, with the squad and everything he's been able to reformulate practically.
"You see every Premier League game today, how the teams try to play more football, have more possession. It's completely different from when he arrived.
"So to be able to be part of this project and achieve everything I've achieved, I feel very honoured, it really is a childhood dream."
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