Berlin, May 11 (IANS) Bayern Munich sealed its Bundesliga title celebrations with a 2-0 home win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the 33rd round match on an emotional night that marked Thomas Muller’s final game in red on Saturday.
All eyes were on Muller as he led the team out for his 750th and final appearance at the Allianz Arena. The veteran, who has won 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues with the club, received a roaring ovation and was honoured with a fan choreography.
After a quiet start, Michael Olise brought Bayern to life in the 31st minute. Cutting inside from the right, he curled a shot past Monchengladbach goalkeeper Jonas Omlin for Harry Kane to open the scoring. The goal was Kane’s 25th of the season, making him the first Bayern player to reach that mark in each of his first two Bundesliga campaigns, reports Xinhua.
Monchengladbach had its moments, with Tim Kleindienst, Rocco Reitz and Tomas Cvancara all testing Manuel Neuer, who returned from injury to put in an impeccable performance. The Bayern captain made several fine saves from close range to keep his clean sheet intact.
Muller came close to scoring himself on several occasions but was unable to find the net on his special night. He was taken off in the 84th minute to a standing ovation from all sides of the stadium as his teammates lined up for a guard of honor.
In the dying moments of the game, Olise capped a remarkable evening by finishing off a slick move involving Leroy Sane to make it 2-0.
“I’m not sure who felt the emotions more, Thomas or the Bayern fans. In the years to come, we’ll truly realize just how important he was for this club,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany.
Elsewhere, bottom club Holstein Kiel was relegated to the second tier after a 2-1 defeat at fourth-placed Freiburg. Bochum was also relegated as Mainz moved into the top six with a 4-1 win. Leipzig shared the spoils with Werder Bremen and has no chance of qualifying for the Champions League. Heidenheim shocked Union Berlin 3-0 to move into the relegation play-off zone, while Hoffenheim was held to a 2-2 draw by Wolfsburg.
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