Football
Mark Lovell, Bayern Munich blogger 8y

Bayern Munich 'stepped it up in the second half' - Joshua Kimmich

Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich hailed his side's second-half performance in Saturday's 1-0 defeat of Hamburg.

Carlo Ancelotti's side left it late against their struggling opponent before winning their eighth consecutive game courtesy of a Kimmich goal with two minutes remaining.

The German champions, chasing an historic fifth league title on the trot, created little in a turgid first half against a resolute home side, but improved markedly after the introduction of Franck Ribery and Arturo Vidal just after the hour mark.

Bayern upped the tempo, carving out a whole host of chances but couldn't find a way past former German international goalkeeper Rene Adler in inspired form in the HSV goal.

Just as the game looked to be drifting to a goalless draw, Thiago found Ribery on the left with a delicious first-time ball with the outside of his foot. The 33-year-old Frenchman took it in his stride, driving powerfully to the by-line and crossing to Kimmich who was lurking at the back post to tap in a precious winner.

After waiting 39 games for his first Bayern goal, the 21-year-old German international now has four over his past four games.

"We didn't play well in the first half," Kimmich admitted to German Sky. "We were lacking ideas and created few chances, while Hamburg had one or two good opportunities themselves."

"But we stepped it up in the second half with three or four excellent chances. Luckily I got the goal at the end."

Bayern manager Ancelotti noted the adversity his team faced in the first half, but ultimately hailed the decisive play of the game. 

"It was a difficult game, especially in the first half as Hamburg played with great intensity. Thiago's pass at the end was fantastic, that's one of his biggest qualities."

But Bayern suffered a blow in the narrow win in Northern Germany as Mats Hummels limped off six minutes after the break and is a doubt for Wednesday's tricky Champions League trip to face Atletico Madrid.

Hummels picked up a knee injury after harmlessly tangling with US international striker Bobby Wood on the stroke of half-time.

After treatment at the break, Hummels was deemed fit to continue but was replaced by his Germany central defensive partner Jerome Boateng on 51 minutes.

Hummels said: "We hoped it would get better with movement, but it got worse as the game went on. We are assuming it's just a minor knock as the first initial tests didn't show anything. But it'll have to be looked at closely, as I said, it didn't get any better under duress."

Asked whether he would be fit for the trip to Madrid, Hummels said: "It looks okay at the moment but there are no guarantees."

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