Bayern overcome Boca to book berth in CWC last 16, Dortmund sink Sundowns

Bayern Munich booked their place in the knockout stages of the Club World Cup with Harry Kane and Michael Olise on target in a hard-fought 2-1 win over Argentina’s Boca Juniors.

Kane’s strike gave the German champions the lead only for Miguel Merentiel to equalise, but Olise popped up with a late winner.

After defeats for Paris Saint-Germain against Botofogo and Chelsea against Flamengo, Bayern bucked the trend of European teams falling to South American opponents with an accomplished victory in the Group C encounter.

“It was a big performance from the guys, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, coming into a hostile environment with hot weather. In the first half we should have been two or three up then in the second they put us under a bit of pressure,” said Kane.

Hard Rock Stadium was packed to the rafters with Boca fans who once again brought incredible passion and noise to the NFL stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins.

But Bayern set about quieting the 63,587 crowd with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka taking charge of midfield and the movement of Bayern’s frontline stretching the Boca defence.

The German side thought they had the lead in the eighth minute when a corner from Olise passed untouched through a crowded six-yard box and into the net.

But the referee was called to the monitor for a VAR review where he was able to clearly see that Serge Gnabry had blocked and tangled with Boca goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin, and the effort was ruled out. Ten minutes later, however, Bayern had the breakthrough when Boca were unable to fully clear a ball into the box and Kane pounced with a clinical left-foot shot into the bottom corner.

Bayern smelled blood and pushed for a second -- Olise found Gnabry on the right and his low ball across goal was just inches away from the sliding Kingsley Coman. Boca desperately needed to find a foothold in the game and they came close when a thundering free-kick from Kevin Zenon was punched out by Manuel Neuer. Moments later Zenon tested the Bayern keeper again with another fierce strike which Neuer punched away.

But for all the signs of life from Boca, Bayern looked in control of the game and Kane was close to making it 2-0 with a dangerous free-kick which dipped just too late and flashed over the bar.

Bayern continued to look for a second after the interval and the busy Olise should have done better from close range but couldn’t connect properly with an off-balance shot.

Boca never gave up harrying and grafting though and their reward came in the 66th minute.

On a turnover in midfield, Alan Velasco found Miguel Merentiel down the right and he powered goalwards, skipping around Josip Stanisic before producing a brilliant, confident finish past the helpless Neuer.

It looked like South American clubs’ unbeaten record in the tournament was going to hold, but with six minutes remaining Olise provided the decisive blow. After a scramble on the edge of the box, Kane found the France international with a delicate lay-off and Olise provided precision control with a superb side-foot finish into the corner.

Konrad Laimer thought he had wrapped up the win with a third moments later but he was ruled offside.

Boca keeper Marchesin said the game had shown the level that the Argentine giants needed to maintain. It was the first loss for a South American side in the competition and it leaves Boca with just one point before their final group game.

Jobe Bellingham netted his first Borussia Dortmund goal in a thrilling 4-3 win over Mamelodi Sundowns at the Club World Cup on Saturday.

The English midfielder, who this month followed older brother Jude’s footsteps in joining the German side, started for the first time for Dortmund.

Sundowns of South Africa took a surprise early lead but Dortmund hit back strongly to triumph in sweltering conditions in Cincinnati at the TQL Stadium and move top of Group F.

Earlier, Youcef Belaili scored in the 70th minute, goalkeeper Ben Said saved a penalty deep in second-half stoppage time and Esperance Sportive de Tunis defeated Los Angeles FC 1-0 to keep their FIFA Club World Cup hopes alive in a dramatic contest in Nashville.

Agencies