Bayern Munich 1-0 Augsburg: Player ratings as late Lewandowski penalty saves sloppy hosts
By Tom Gott
Bayern Munich had to rely on a late penalty from Robert Lewandowski to inch past Bavarian rivals Augsburg on Saturday.
The hosts began brightly but Augsburg were clearly not afraid of Bayern, pressing with a high line and trying to get in behind their backline. Andre Hahn profited from a sloppy back-pass from Tanguy Nianzou but just couldn't get a shot off.
Bayern had their own chances early on as well. Lewandowski was inches away from connecting with a header, before Joshua Kimmich dragged wide from a nice position.
However, while the league leaders dominated possession, they failed to test Rafal Gikiewicz in the Augsburg goal in the first half - neither side had a shot on target - and Julian Nagelsmann will have been hugely disappointed with his side at the break.
It took Bayern under a minute to have their first effort on goal. Lewandowski's excellent header looked destined for the net but Gikiewicz pulled out a beautiful save to keep things level.
Gikiewicz again got down well to deny Joshua Kimmich on the hour mark after the German fired in an effort from range.
Substitute Kingsley Coman found an inch of space with 15 minutes to go, but the sight of his shot drifting wide of the post summed up Bayern's performance pretty well.
Then, with ten minutes to go, Bayern were handed a lifeline after Lewandowski's header hit the arm of Reece Oxford and a penalty was awarded, from which the Pole made no mistake to snatch a scrappy victory.
Before the final whistle, Bayern threatened to make it two. Coman saw an effort well saved by Gikiewicz, before Kimmich rattled the crossbar with an excellent effort from range, and the excellent Niklas Dorsch had to clear off the line in the dying embers as well. Where was that quality for the first 85 minutes?
Bayern Munich player ratings vs Augsburg
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Manuel Neuer (GK) - 6/10 - A spectator apart from one or two routine saves.
Benjamin Pavard (RB) - 6/10 - Was busy dealing with Augsburg's wide threat and showed some decent movement going forwards as well.
Dayot Upamecano (CB) - 6/10 - Made a great last-ditch challenge to deny Hahn. A few poor decisions but some excellent moments as well. Just about balances out.
Tanguy Nianzou (CB) - 5/10 - Some glorious passing but guilty of two major errors which could have easily resulted in goals.
Omar Richards (LB) - 5/10 - Some solid defending but didn't offer anywhere near enough going forward.
2. Midfielders
Joshua Kimmich (DM) - 5/10 - Kimmich gets so much responsibility but didn't do enough with it. Sloppy defensively and pretty underwhelming with the ball at his feet.
Leon Goretzka (DM) - 5/10 - Put a decent shift in but still looks short of match fitness.
Leroy Sane (RM) - 5/10 - Nowhere near the same kind of threat when out on the right.
Thomas Muller (AM) - 4/10 - Couldn't find any space in which to operate and his passing was not good enough.
Serge Gnabry (LM) - 4/10 - Hooked at half-time after a really underwhelming 45 minutes.
3. Forward
Robert Lewandowski (ST) - 6/10 - Fed off scraps for most of the game but was the only forward who ever looked like scoring, and that's ultimately what happened.
4. Substitutes
Jamal Musiala (LM, 46' for Gnabry) - 6/10 - Made an immediate impact after coming on.
Alphonso Davies (LB, 57' for Richards) - 6/10 - Significantly more threatening than Richards. His impact has been missed.
Marcel Sabitzer (CM, 57' for Goretzka) - 5/10 - Not really bad but not really good.
Kingsley Coman (RM, 65' for Sane) - 6/10 - A significant upgrade on Sane. His introduction saw Bayern step up a level.
Josip Stanisic (RB, 90' for Muller) - N/A