St. Pauli held Bayern Munich to just 6 total shots on target at the Millerntor-Stadion, but it was a wonder strike from Jamal Musiala in the 27th minute that handed the Rekordmeister a 1-0 win away from home, recording yet another clean sheet.
Before Musiala’s long range effort bamboozled Nikola Vasilj, Bayern had not recorded a shot on target, as St. Pauli were proving rather difficult to break down with their resolutee defending, physicality, and willingness to rely on the counterattack. To add to that, Vincet Kompany made the decision to start both Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sané, slightly altering the eb and flow to Bayern’s midfield and attack, though neither of the two players played poorly by any stretch of the imagination.
To give even more credit to St. Pauli, even midway through the second half before they were forced to start taking more risks to find an equalizer, they were edging Bayern in xG .24 to .13. That statistic also adds to just how beautiful of a strike it was from Musiala, who rarely scores goals from outside the 18-yard box.
After the match, he mentioned that long range efforts is something he has been making a point of working on in training, and it certainly paid off against St. Pauli. This comes after a headed goal midweek in the 1-0 Champions League win over Benfica — headers are also a bit of a rarity for Musiala.
“Me neither [laughs]. I practiced shooting from distance in training and I’m very happy it’s worked out today. It was my first goal from outside the box this season. I’m always working to improve,” Musiala replied when a reporter said that they didn’t know the youngster had long range efforts in his locker (via @iMiaSanMia).
Photo by S. Mellar/FC Bayern via Getty Images
It is certainly far more characteristic of Musiala to be weaving his way through congested penalty boxes to created a yard of space for himself to either take a chance and find a teammate, but adding long range goals to his tool kit only goes on to make him that much more dangerous. For an occasion like the one against St. Pauli, sometimes that is going to be what is required to come away with maximum points against sides that will sit in deep blocks and really try to frustrate Bayern’s attack as much as they can.
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