'Best remedy': Bayern win 3-1 in Freiburg after Kompany shock

Bayern Munich overcame the collapse of coach Vincent Kompany and the additional absence of key players with a 3-1 triumph at Freiburg on Sunday and returned to the top of the Bundesliga.

Dayot Upamecano opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he blocked a shot at his own penalty area and scored on the ensuing counter-attack and Serge Gnabry made it 2-0 in the 42nd for his 100th Bundesliga goal.

An own goal from Tom Bischof in the 82nd made them sweat it out in the final minutes and they needed a huge save from Jonas Urbig in stoppage time against Matthias Ginter before Olise clinched it at the death when he stole the ball from until then superb goalkeeper Mio Backhaus.

'Extraordinary' victory

Bayern passed a big test of courage two days after Kompany collapsed at their training centre and assistant Aaron Danks took charge for the time being. 

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defender Kim Minjae, midfielders Joshua Kimmich and Aleksandar Pavlović and winger Luis Díaz were also missing in Freiburg.

"It is a much bigger win than the three points," Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl told streaming portal DAZN. "What the team and the coaching staff have done is extraordinary."

Eberl added that Kompany "is stable. He doesn't have a headache any more. We are leaving him in peace. He should await the final diagnosis. We will give him all the time until he is healthy."

"Such games and victories are the best remedy for him," Eberl said.

Danks said that he got a WhatsApp from Kompany saying "well done. He was happy" and that he responded telling Kompany to rest again now.

"I am really pleased with the performance. We always knew it would be difficult. We had to show resilience and character. I am pleased with the day," Danks said.

Bayern moved back into first place on goal difference over Borussia Dortmund ahead of the two sides' table-topper showdown on Saturday in Munich. Dortmund defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 on Saturday.

Freiburg remained third after a third defeat in a row across Germany and Europe, four points back and tied with Bayer Leverkusen, who crashed 3-0 at Hoffenheim in the other Sunday game.

Bayern pass big test

The Kompany shock and absence of the players had raised concern how Bayern would respond, but they showed 100% determination from the kick-off.

In the 16th, Upamecano blocked a shot from Niklas Beste at his own penalty area, ran on to get the ball back from Olise at the centre circle and one-on-one fired a low shot past Backhaus.

Lennart Karl and Olise had further chances and Backhaus saved well from Nathaniel Brown but it was 2-0 when Karl won the ball and Brown then set up Gnabry to score from a tight left angle.

Bayern remained the more dangerous team, with Harry Kane heading wide and the strong Backhaus saving three times from Ismail Saibari and from Kane.

That allowed Freiburg back into the game out of the blue when Bischof deflected Jordy Makengo's cross into his own net. 

Bayern were rattled and Freiburg came closest from Ginter's header which Urbig kept out before Olise dispossessed Backhaus far outside Freiburg's penalty area and slotted into the empty net.

"Bayern have a lot of quality. We came back and had one or two chances, but they then clinched it. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough," Freiburg forward Vincenzo Grifo said.

Kramarić makes Hoffenheim history

Earlier, club top scorer Andrej Kramarić scored Hoffenheim's 1,000th Bundesliga goal with a Panenka penalty in the 79th minute to set them on course towards a late win against Leverkusen.

Alexander Prass got the second in the 89th but forgot that he was already booked when he tore off his shirt in celebration and was sent off as a result.

The build-up to the second goal saw a heavy clash of heads between Leverkusen's Loïc Badé and Max Moerstedt. Badé was carried off on a stretcher while Moerstedt was able to continue and even scored the final goal in stoppage time.

"I am extremely happy to score the 1,000th goal. It is a wonderful feeling. It is always special to make such history," said Kramarić, who has been at the club since 2016. He added that it was "our best game of the season."  

Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick failed to score for the first time in a league match this season as their run of eight games unbeaten across all competitions, of which they had won seven, came to an end after a very modest performance.