Tottenham’s tour of the Far East ended in defeat as Bayern Munich swept them aside 2-1 despite being without many of their first team regulars.
Gabriel Vidovic required just four minutes to break the deadlock, pouncing on an error by Guglielmo Vicario, while substitute Leon Goretzka took 11 minutes to double Bayern’s advantage after the interval.
Spurs fans at the Seoul World Cup Stadium were treated to a Pedro Porro long-distance special as the full-back struck from 25 yards midway through the second period, but it was not enough to preserve Spurs’ unbeaten summer.
The two clubs will reconvene at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a week’s time in what will be Spurs’ final outing before their Premier League curtain-raiser against Leicester City.
Spurs had helped themselves to four wins in four this summer and, for their toughest test yet, Ange Postecoglou assembled his closest imitation of the starting 11 that will line up against Leicester on August 19.
Still without recourse to his summer internationals and a number of injured starters, the Spurs boss made three changes to the line up that defeated the K-League All Stars three days earlier as senior squad members James Maddison, Djed Spence and Radu Dragusin entered the fray.
Yet Postecoglou has not been shy of blooding youth in pre-season and continued with Archie Gray in the heart of midfield. The 18-year-old has impressed since signing from Leeds and will likely feature in the manager’s plans this season.
In the opposite dugout stood Vincent Kompany who, after just two warm-up games and without some of his best talent, will already be feeling the magnitude of expectation that comes with managing a club the size of Bayern Munich.
An unspectacular 14-1 victory over amateur side FC Rottach-Egern and a dreary 1-1 stalemate against fourth-tier outfit Duren stirred little enthusiasm among fans. For impressive though Kompany’s burgeoning managerial credentials are, he will need to hit the ground running to endear himself to a fanbase that is used to winning as a matter of course.
And it took just four minutes for Bayern to silence any preemptive detractors as Vidovic profited from a mix-up between Vicario and Spence to grab the opener. It was Serge Gnabry who gainfully seized on an underhit pass out from the back, and although his effort was parried, the ball fell directly into the path of Vidovic who slotted through the keeper’s legs.
The Bavarians continued to apply pressure on Spurs’ newly-opened wound, pressing with intensity and exploiting spaces down the channels. What few moments of respite there were for Spurs yielded little, with Son Heung-min’s curled strike flying high and wide and Dejan Kulusevski’s effort blocked expertly by Josip Stanisic.
It was the sheer fluidity of Bayern’s movement that unsettled Spurs. Mathys Tel was the designated number nine but any one of Vidovic, Gnabry or Thomas Muller minded to occupy the central space, with Tel proving dangerous from the left. On another day the French forward would have had a brace, as would Gnabry.
‘Quicker!’ Kompany cried on 38 minutes – though much of his instruction had hitherto been in German, this time he opted for English. The command sparked the move of the half as Bayern switched the ball from left to right before working the ball back inside. Vidovic released Tel, who stepped inside Pedro Porro before firing just wide.
Though Spurs were fortunate to reach the interval at just 1-0 down, there will have been concern at quite how they were totally outplayed for 45 minutes by a Bayern side that did not feature Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane, Matthijs de Ligt, Dayot Upamecano or Alphonso Davies.
Bayern made six changes at half-time, then made two more, but their intensity did not waver. Spurs emerged from the break with more panache, but it was not enough to stop the Bavarians from doubling their lead, this time through Goretzka.
Once again it was Tel at the heart of things, shifting the ball infield before releasing substitute Goretzka, who required two bites at the cherry to beat Vicario. The Italian, who had saved smartly from Bryan Zaragoza moments earlier, was indignant: where was his defence?
Spurs had barely laid a glove on Bayern but, as both sides wilted under the uncompromising Seoul heat, created more openings – a loose pass from former Tottenham defender Eric Dier allowed Son to feed in Pape Matar Sarr for a one-on-one with Sven Ulreich. Had the Senegalese midfielder lifted the ball a fraction higher Spurs would have been on the scoresheet six minutes before they eventually were.
Kompany well knows of Porro’s capabilities with shots from distance having watched the Spaniard register two strikes past Burnley last season. But Porro netted once more, unleashing a piledriver from 25 yards to the delight of the Korean supporters in the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
There was to be no comeback for Spurs, with Postecoglou electing to give minutes to the youngsters who have formed the backbone of the club’s tour of the Far East. On paper, a 2-1 defeat to Bayern is far from fatal, but the manner in which the Bavarians controlled this game will give Postecoglou cause for concern.
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