BEVERLY HILLS, October 27, (THEWILL) –Â Bayern Munich’s central defensive midfielder Joshua Kimmich scored a 20-yard stunner late in the game to give the UEFA Champions League champions a 2-1 victory over a Lokomotiv Moscow side that threatened to cause an upset.
The hosts began strongly and merely three minutes into the game, Russian midfielder Anton Miranchuk’s cross found centre forward Fedor Smolov unmarked but the striker headed straight into the arms of Manuel Neuer from close range.
Bayern were not champions for nothing and reacted to the scare with a moment of quality befitting their pedigree.
French midfielder Corentin Tolisso chipped the ball out to his right back compatriot Benjamin Pavard. The defender dinked a superb volleyed pass into the box where Leon Goretzka waited to head down into the corner of the net, beating Guilherme at his near post.
Another exquisite Pavard volley almost created a second goal when he fed another Frenchman Kingsley Coman. The right winger could not believe he missed when his attempt struck the post and went wide.
Bayern’s fiery goal-machine Lewandowski had a penalty shout overturned by VAR just after the hour, before Cape Verde centre forward for Lokomotiv Ze Luis broke clear with 70 minutes on the clock. He put an inviting cross to the near post which left winger Miranchuk slammed into the bottom-right corner from six yards.
But with 11 minutes left, Kimmich rose to the occasion, deftly controlling a Javier Martinez pass before lashing the winner beyond Guilherme’s reach from distance.
Lokomotiv who are bottom of the Russian Premier League, gave a confident account of themselves and rattled Bayern with their dynamic performance. However, the holders showed the character required of champions to grind out a win during a frantic end to the game.
Lokomotiv next visit Sochi for a Russian Premier League fixture on Saturday before the visit of Atletico Madrid to Moscow next week, while Bayern are away at Koln domestically prior to travelling to Salzburg in the UCL next time.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
