European football: Bayern fight back at Wolfsburg to give Kompany winning start

A late goal by Serge Gnabry secured Bayern Munich a hard-fought 3-2 Bundesliga victory at Wolfsburg to give their new coach Vincent Kompany a winning start.

Wolfsburg began brightly but it was the visitors who made the better chances in the first half, taking the lead after fine work by Sacha Boey down the right to set up Jamal Musiala for an easy tap-in. Bayern made a poor start to the second half, however, as they gave away a penalty when Tiago Tomas was brought down by Boey, and Lovro Majer made no mistake from the spot.

Wolfsburg created all kinds of trouble for the visitors’ defence and, in the 55th minute, Patrick Wimmer squared the ball for Majer, who slotted it home to score his second. Winger Jakub Kaminski’s own goal brought Bayern on level terms before Gnabry, assisted by Harry Kane, struck into the corner in the 82nd minute to secure all three points for Bayern.

With Kane and new signing Michael Olise looking lively and frequently finding promising positions, Bayern created a host of other chances, but Wolfsburg goalkeeper Kamil Grabara made some outstanding saves to deny the duo.

Thomas Müller, who equalled a club record with his 709th competitive appearance for Bayern, breathed life back into his side after coming on as a substitute in the 65th minute and was decisive in their win.

“We are very happy and are happy to take it. It’s good for morale and self-confidence,” Gnabry said afterwards. “It was a very exhausting Sunday afternoon. The equaliser straight after half-time knocked our socks off a bit. Then we were down 2-1, which made it even more difficult. But at the end of the day, we were rewarded and won.”

Endrick scored his first Real Madrid goal as the La Liga champions earned their first win of the season, defeating lowly Real Valladolid 3-0 at the Bernabéu. The hosts struggled to break down Valladolid’s ultra-defensive approach until the 50th minute, when Federico Valverde drilled home a free kick from the edge of the area.

Late strikes by two substitutes added gloss to the final score, with Brahim Díaz chipping the Valladolid keeper in the 88th minute. Then, six minutes into stoppage time, Brazil striker Endrick – who replaced Kylian Mbappé in the 86th minute – fired home at the near post to open his account for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

This story will be updated later