Soccer Football - Bundesliga - St. Pauli v Bayern Munich - Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg, Germany - November 9, 2024 Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer celebrates with teammates after the match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Bayern Munich earned a nervous 1-0 win at St Pauli thanks to a sensational 28-metre drive from Jamal Musiala to stay unbeaten and open a five-point lead atop the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Bayern, fresh from their 1-0 Champions League win over Benfica courtesy of another goal from in-form Musiala, will go into the international break leading the standings.
They have 26 points, five ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who did not get past Borussia Moenchengladbach in a goalless draw. Eintracht Frankfurt, who visit VfB Stuttgart on Sunday, are third on 17.
The Bavarians had the upper hand at the start but did not succeed in taming the hosts straight away.
Promoted St Pauli looked confident and gradually became more aggressive, carving out a couple of chances of their own. As the hosts pushed for a goal, however, it was Bayern who struck.
Germany midfielder Musiala won possession 30 metres out, took two steps and unleashed a ferocious shot that went in off the crossbar for his fifth league goal in the 23rd minute.
Promoted St Pauli turned out to be a tough nut to crack despite Bayern's possession of more than 70%.
They gave the visitors little space to create chances for much of the second half with St Pauli waiting for their opportunity to hit the Bavarians on the break.
Bayern did come close late in the game with first Musiala firing over the bar and then Harry Kane failing to beat the Bochum keeper from close range a little later.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris and Christian Radnedge)
