Sadio Mane scored his first goal in a competitive match as he helped Bayern Munich win the German Super Cup for the 10th time after defeating RB Leipzig 5-3.
The win came the same day his replacement at Liverpool, Darwin Nunez helped the Premier League club to beat Manchester City to win the FA Community Shield.
In the encounter played at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena, the African Player of the Year, who left Liverpool after six years to join the Bavaria in the summer, also had two goals disallowed for offside.
Sadio Mane’s debut goal for Bayern Munich in a competitive match came after the half-hour mark in the DFL-Supercup clash with Leipzig.
To free Serge Gnabry from the Leipzig offside trap and make a pass across the goal to Mane, Jamal Musiala executed a flawless assist.
Before then, in the 14th minute of the game, Musiala had defeated Leipzig’s Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to give Bayern the lead.
The brilliant Musiala was instrumental in Bayern’s third goal, which was scored by French international Benjamin Pavard on the final play before halftime.
At the hour mark, Leipzig trimmed the deficit with a goal from Marcel Halstenberg, but it only took Bayern five minutes to reestablish their three-goal lead.
Gulacsi barely managed to save half of Thomas Mueller’s attempt, and Gnabry was the first to react to the loose ball to make the score 4-1.
Another Bayern new signing, Ryan Gravenberch, had a goal disallowed by VAR for offside. The new addition for Bayern from Ajax, was brought in to replace Muller.
After Dani Olmo was fouled in the area during the second half, Leipzig scored their second goal of the game via a penalty kick by Christopher Nkunku.
Matthijs de Ligt, a Dutch center-back who joined Bayern from Juventus for 67 million euros ($68.2 million), was a new addition as time ran out.
Olmo, a Spanish international, scored another goal for Leipzig after 89 minutes on a swift breakaway after Mane had two goals disallowed for offside with six minutes remaining.
Leroy Sane’s goal for Bayern in the eighth minute of stoppage time put an end to the game after Bayern had to endure a few tense moments as Leipzig tried to score a fourth.
Will Sadio Mane be able to accomplish more than he did in Liverpool after winning the DFL Supercup to begin his Bundesliga season? Will the Senegalese be able to fill Robert Lewandowski’s shoes? Will Lewandowski be missed by Bayern Munich? The forthcoming season will provide answers to most of these questions.
Arguably, Mane is a prolific attacker who can make a significant impact in Germany, but it is unclear if he would be able to fill the void Lewandowski left at Bayern.
