Singapore Festival of Football: Bayern Munich stun Liverpool with late winner
Young fullback Frans Kratzig's screamer gave German champions a thrilling 4-3 win in front of 49,983 fans at National Stadium
SINGAPORE — Outnumbered in terms of fan support but not outfought, German champions Bayern Munich stunned the legions of Liverpool fans at National Stadium on Wednesday (2 August) when they snatched a brilliant stoppage-time goal to beat the Reds 4-3 in their Festival of Football friendly.
With most of the 49,983 fans cheering for the English Premier League giants, it was Bayern who finished stronger, as they came back from 2-3 down to earn the Singapore Trophy presented by Audi and Standard Chartered.
And what a winner to silence the noisy Liverpool fans, who were by far the majority of the crowd at the National Stadium. They sung their anthems and cheered constantly, but were sent home unsatisfied when young fullback Frans Kratzig broke through the Reds defence and slammed home an unstoppable winner from just inside the box.
As the 20-year-old was being mobbed by his teammates, the Bayern bench also stood and raised their hands in triumph, not least of all their manager Thomas Tuchel.
"A proper away-match atmosphere," he quipped during the post-match conference. "We expected that. There are a lot of Liverpool fans in Singapore.
"It was a very good ending to a tiring, demanding 10 days of pre-season tour. A huge step forward for us today. We deserved that result against one of the best teams in Europe."
In contrast, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that, while he never likes to lose, he hopes this defeat will make his players aware of what mistakes they could make under duress against a top side like Bayern.
"I saw a lot of good things, and also some things which I didn't like," the German said. "Now we'll analyse how we can improve our concentration even when we're tired against tough opponents."
Flying start by Liverpool
Liverpool got off to a flyer, pressuring Bayern all over the pitch and going ahead inside two minutes. Cody Gakpo, so adept at starting an attack from deep, played a beautiful one-two with Diogo Jota to split the Bayern defence open.
The Dutchman still had work to do, but he advanced confidently before blasting the ball past Yann Sommer, as the crowd erupted with joy.
Yet, Bayern were unfazed. They patiently worked a plan to exploit Liverpool's right flank whenever the Reds' new vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold moved from right-back to midfield in his experimental hybrid role. Serge Gnabry proved a constant menace as the former Arsenal man threatened whenever he had the ball.
However, Liverpool went further ahead in the 27th minute. This time, it was a simple corner routine that worked because Jota's cross was met by the colossal figure of new captain Virgil van Dijk, whose thumping header gave Sommer no chance.
Again, Bayern stayed unruffled, and pulled a goal back within six minutes through an equally-simple move. Their South Korean defender Kim Min-jae pumped a long ball straight into the path of Gnabry, who twisted and turned past two Reds defenders before slotting past Alisson Becker.
The irrepressible Gnabry proved key again for the German club's equaliser in the 42nd minute, tormenting both Alexander-Arnold and Matip before squaring for Jamal Musiala to sweep home unmarked.\
Bayern seize control late in the game
Unlike the wholesale changes made in their previous friendly against Leicester City, Liverpool only made three substitutions to start the second half. One of them was Luis Diaz, who seemed intent on making up for a injury-plague last season with incisive play from the left flank.
However, the Colombian popped up at the right side of the penalty box in the 66th minute to accept Mohamed Salah's cross and make it 3-2 for Liverpool with a superb spin-and-shoot.
The Reds fan gave a mighty roar, confident that their team had the match in the bag. But once Klopp substituted in the youth players to give them a run-out, Bayern seized back control of the game.
They duly equalised again in the 80th minute when midfielder Josip Stanisic pounced to slot home when Alisson could only palm Matthijs de Ligt's header onto the Croatian's path.
That set up Kratzig's stoppage-time heroics, giving Bayern their second straight pre-season win, and Liverpool's first pre-season defeat.
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