Friday November 22, 2024

Olise stars as Bayern batter latest opponents, Freiburg 2nd

Published : 21 Sep 2024, 22:15

  By Mark Meadows, dpa
Bayern's Jamal Musiala celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich at wohninvest Weserstadion. Photo: Carmen Jaspersen/dpa.

Michael Olise underlined his good start to life at Bayern Munich by scoring twice and assisting two more in a 5-0 romp at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

The league leaders made it four league wins from four after the France winger scored his second and third of the Bundesliga campaign, having found the net in last weekend's 6-1 win at Holstein Kiel.

His charge into the box set up Jamal Musiala for 2-0 just after the half hour as Bremen wilted under waves of pressure.

A fine finish from Harry Kane - already his fifth of the top-flight campaign - made it 3-0 in the second half after Olise's pass.

Olise soon curled in a fourth after Bremen backed off too much and substitute Serge Gnabry netted an impressive fifth as Bayern racked up a club record-equalling 20 goals in a week.

"Our attack is working well at the moment and what we have learnt in training about pressing more," Musiala told Sky. "We have so much quality. In midfield we have stability. It is fun to play football."

Freiburg and Frankfurt flying

Freiburg, led by Julian Schuster after Christian Streich's long reign ended in May, sit second on 9 points after Ritsu Doan's 54th-minute opener and a Vincenzo Grifo brace in a 3-0 win at Heidenheim.

Schuster said: "We were too imprecise in the first half, but we did that better after half-time and were rewarded with goals. It was important to score more because Heidenheim never give up."

Eintracht Frankfurt are behind Freiburg only on goal difference after Hugo Larsson and Omar Marmoush sealed a 2-0 home win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Fourth-placed Union Berlin beat Hoffenheim 2-1 at home thanks to a great start. They scored with the first attack through Tom Rothe and South Korea's Jeong Woo Yeong kept his cool to soon notch on his first Union start. Marius Bülter's goal sparked a nervy finish.

Bochum and promoted Kiel both picked up their first point after four games when Kiel substitute Shuto Machino grabbed a late 2-2 draw.

Champions Bayer Leverkusen, who visit Bayern next weekend, meet Wolfsburg on Sunday when Stuttgart face Borussia Dortmund and bottom side St Pauli play RB Leipzig. Mainz won 3-2 at Augsburg on Friday.

French flair from Bayern signing

Olise, Bayern's signing from Crystal Palace, also netted twice in the 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Vincent Kompany rotated again to spread the load of his intense pressing but Olise kept his place, making the most of it on 23 minutes when he ran onto Kane's pass.

Four goals from three matches is a strong return but his all-round game looks perfect for Bayern, who have traditionally played with wingers but have encouraged him to also take more central positions.

He showed he can provide when he wriggled through the defence for Musiala's tap-in and Olise's second goal was sheer class.

Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, substituted as a precaution against Zagreb, was due to start in Bremen but pulled out of the warm-up after feeling his hamstring again.

Sven Ulreich again deputized but had little to do, with the hosts not having a shot on target in the first half.

Bremen tried to attack more after the break but that was their undoing, as Kompany continued his great start after replacing Thomas Tuchel following a first season since 2012 without silverware.