Bayern Munich defeated AC Milan 1-0 in the 2019 International Champions Cup on Tuesday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
Leon Goretzka scored the only goal, giving Bayern the lead in the third minute of first-half injury time.
Joshua Kimmich did the hard work to set up Bayern’s winner. Kimmich instinctively read Goretzka’s run into the 18-yard box and put just enough weight on the pass to hit the midfielder in stride.
Goretzka calmly side-footed his finish past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the far post.
Sven Ulreich, who replaced Manuel Neuer to open the second half, stepped up to preserve Bayern’s lead in the 65th minute. A poor pass from Niklas Sule allowed Patrick Cutrone to run clear through on goal. Cutrone had ample time and space to line up his shot, but Ulreich got a leg to his low shot.
Jann-Fiete Arp secured his transfer to Bayern from Hamburg in February but didn’t officially join the reigning German champions until this summer. The 19-year-old was quickly inserted into the first team for the preseason, appearing in each of Bayern’s first two matches of the International Champions Cup.
Arp’s wait for his first goal at his new club will continue. Although he slammed the ball into the back of the net in the 82nd minute, the referee correctly waved off the goal due to a handball by Arp immediately preceding the tally.
David Alaba also watched as his goal was quickly wiped away after he was offside in the 90th minute while trying to collect Thiago Alcantara’s through ball.
In general, the match suffered from the fact Bayern and Milan are at contrasting points of their respective preseasons. The former is winding things down for the most part, while the latter is just getting started-with a new manager, Marco Giampaolo, to boot.
As a result, Bayern didn’t go above and beyond in search of a second goal, and Milan was content to settle for a defeat.
The result itself will be less frustrating for Giampaolo than the fact Theo Hernandez appeared to injure his ankle. Hernandez looked dangerous for stretches running down the left flank but was stretchered off in the 45th minute.
The Bavarians play Fenerbahce on July 30 in their first match of the Audi Cup. After that, they’ll take on Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup on Aug. 3, which is the traditional curtain-raiser for the German domestic season.
