Olise punishes Freiburg howler as Bayern edge late thriller

Bayern Munich returned to winning ways with a dramatic 3-1 victory over Freiburg at the Europa-Park Stadion on Sunday.

After a brief stoppage due to pyrotechnics, Freiburg started brightly and matched the champions early, with Patrick Osterhage firing wide. But Bayern struck first in the 16th minute through an unlikely source.

Dayot Upamecano blocked Niklas Beste’s shot on the edge of his own box, then sprinted the length of the pitch to join the counter.

Michael Olise found him with a perfect through ball, and the defender finished calmly past Mio Backhaus.

Freiburg kept pushing, but Upamecano denied Lucas Höler, and Bayern doubled their lead just before halftime. 

Nathaniel Brown slipped in Serge Gnabry, who fired in from a tight angle in the 43rd minute to make it 2-0.

Freiburg responded after the break, testing Jonas Urbig through Derry Scherhant’s free kick, but struggled to break down Bayern’s defense. 

At the other end, substitutes Ismael Saibari and Harry Kane forced a brilliant double save from Backhaus in the 80th minute.

The hosts finally got their reward in the 82nd minute when Vincenzo Grifo set up Jordy Makengo, whose cross deflected in off Tom Bischof to make it 2-1 and set up a tense finale.

Freiburg pushed hard for an equalizer, with Urbig producing a stunning save to deny Matthias Ginter’s header in the 91st minute.

But their hopes were crushed in the 95th minute. Goalkeeper Backhaus made a costly error outside his box, and Olise pounced, dispossessing him before rolling a long-range shot into an empty net to seal all three points.

The win lifts Bayern after a tough week in Europe, with a blockbuster clash against Borussia Dortmund next.

Image credits: Daniela Porcelli / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images