Harry Kane struck twice as Bayern Munich overcame Chelsea 3-1 in a pulsating Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena.
On their return to Europe’s top competition after nearly two and a half years, Enzo Maresca’s young Chelsea side played with ambition and confidence, taking the game to the German champions. They impressed in the early exchanges but were undone by two quickfire blows in the first half.
Bayern opened the scoring on 20 minutes when Serge Gnabry’s low cross was inadvertently turned into his own net by Trevoh Chalobah. Moments later, Moises Caicedo fouled Kane inside the area, and the England captain calmly converted the resulting penalty to double the lead.
Chelsea refused to wilt and hit back within two minutes. Cole Palmer, restored to the right flank, darted into space, exchanged passes with Malo Gusto and rifled a brilliant strike into the top corner to make it 2-1 before the break.
The visitors continued to show resilience, with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez producing superb saves to deny Kane and Michael Olise. However, Bayern’s superior experience eventually told. On 63 minutes, Gnabry again provided the assist, this time setting up Kane, who finished with precision across goal to restore the two-goal cushion.
Maresca highlighted before the match that his side had been in the Conference League play-off round just over a year ago, yet Chelsea looked unshaken by their rapid rise. Their youthful squad displayed boldness and attacking intent but were ultimately undone by Bayern’s clinical finishing.
The result underlined Bayern’s strength as contenders, while Chelsea left Munich with valuable lessons as they aim to adapt quickly to the demands of elite European football.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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