Bayern survive late scare to beat Freiburg 3-1

Bayern Munich preserved their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season with a 3-1 victory at SC Freiburg, but the visitors were forced to withstand late pressure after Tom Bischof’s own goal sparked a frantic push from the hosts for an equaliser.

Bayern had been cruising at the Europa Park Stadion after taking an early lead when central defender Dayot Upamecano scored an unlikely opener in the 17th minute, sprinting forward through the middle on the counter-attack and latching on to a pass from Michael Olise before expertly slotting the ball past keeper Mio Backhaus.

Freiburg, who got off to a superb start to the league season with four wins and a draw in their first five games before losing to Bayer Leverkusen, found themselves two down when winger Serge Gnabry surged down the left channel and finished from a tight angle three minutes before the break.

The home side were thrown a lifeline when Bischof turned a pass from Rihito Yamamoto into his own net in the 82nd minute, but Olise restored his side’s two-goal advantage deep into stoppage time to secure the win.

Bayern are top of the table with 17 points from seven games, ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference. Freiburg are third on 13 points.

Earlier in the afternoon, Hoffenheim cruised to a 3-0 home win over Leverkusen but lost midfielder Alexander Prass to a late red card after he removed his shirt to celebrate scoring a goal.

Facing the team fourth in the standings, Andrej Kramaric had given mid-table Hoffenheim the lead from the penalty spot in the 79th minute, and Prass all but wrapped up the three points for the home side by netting a second in the 89th minute.

Forgetting that he had been booked on the stroke of half-time, Prass took off his shirt to celebrate and was horrified when he was shown a second yellow card before Max Moerstedt put the game beyond doubt with a third goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.