Bayer 04 started brightly and produced some good football in the first half in front of a capacity 19,200 crowd. Coach Bruno Labbadia was able to put out his usual line-up with the return of Gonzalo Castro after a one-match ban and Renato Augusto and Stefan Kießling recovering from illness.

And Bayer 04 came into game after a ten minute settling-in period. On 14 minutes Tranquillo Barnetta let off the first warning shot across Bayern’s bows. But Bayern keeper was able to Tipp the shot over the bar. Three minutes later the woodwork saved the Bavarian side from going behind as a Henrique header from a corner hit the bar.

Helmes hits side netting

Bayer then hit their stride. The Bayern defensive midfield, with Andreas Ottl replacing the flu-ridden captain Mark van Bommel, were kept busy trying to get on top of Bayer’s game. On 21 minutes Patrick Helmes nicked the ball from Lucio on the Bayern byline. The Germany striker’s cross was blocked but the ball rebounded to Helmes. He unleashede a snap shot but only found the side netting.

The Bavarian side created few chances in the first half. Franck Ribery was kept in check and the best goalscoring opportunity fell to Bastian Schweinsteiger in injury time. But Rene Adler produced an excellent save to turn away the 16 yard effort. Bayer 04 had 57 percent possession in the first period and had nine shots on goal compared to Munich’three but the score was still 0-0.

Toni header puts Bayern in front

Bayern Munich started much stronger in the second half. Werkself coach Labbadia brought on defender Hans Sarpei for the booked Arturo Vidal who now misses the trip to Borussia Mönchengladbach after picking up a fifth yellow card. The Bayer defence cane under increasing pressure with Ribery and Miroslav Klose posing the greatest threats.

A break away on 59 minutes finally lead to the opening goal fort he visitors. Ze Roberto won the ball in midfield and carried on his run before receiving a pass from Ribery. The former Bayer player crossed from the left to the find Luca Toni in the six yard box and the Italian scored with a header from four yards out. Once in front, Bayern increased their grip on the game.

Klose nets decider

Bayern Munich played deep and waited for chances to hit Bayer 04 on the break and made it difficult fort he Werkself to get back into the game. The hosts were unable to penetrate thr Munich defence. Gonzalo Castro popped up in the right of the opposition box but his shot just flashed over the angle of post and bar.

Bayern sealed the win two minutes later. The ever busy Ribery set up Miroslav Klose to strike his measured shot into the far corner of the net from the edge of the Bayer box to wrap up the 2-0 win. Bayer were unable to come back and after the game captain Simon Rolfes was forced to admit: "We have to accept the defeat. We found it hard to get into the game."

And coach Labbadia confessed: "Bayern deserved to win today. We weren’t courageous enough." With this second successive defeat, Bayer 04 now slip down to fourth in the Bundesliga as both Bayern and Hertha Berlin move up the table.

Bayer 04: Adler – Castro, Friedrich, Henrique, Kadlec, Rolfes, Renato Augusto, Vidal, Barnetta, Helmes, Kießling

Bayern Munich: Rensing – Oddo, van Buyten, Lucio, Lahm, Ottl, Ze Roberto, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, Toni, Klose

Substitutions: Sarpei for Vidal (46), Gekas for Renato Augusto (83) –Borowski for
Toni (75)

Goals: 0:1 Toni (59), 0:2 Klose (82)

Booked: Vidal, Henrique – Toni, Ottl

Referee: Fandel (Kyllburg)

Attendance: 19,200 (capacity)