FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich secured a nervous 2-1 victory at Freiburg on Saturday thanks to goals from Harry Kane and Kim Min-jae to move six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
The Bavarians were eager to make amends following Wednesday's shock 3-0 loss to Feyenoord in the Champions League that put their automatic qualification for the round of 16 of the competition at risk.
They have now won all four of the league games this year and are on 48 points, six ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen who let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at RB Leipzig.
"I knew this game would not be easy so what happened here today was not strange," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told a press conference. "We knew we would have to fight."
"Overall it was a tough week with three games for us. We came here with the right mentality. Maybe it was not our prettiest game but it was a good win because this Freiburg team at home is very tough to beat."
"We can't change the story in Rotterdam but we could influence the story today and that was our only focus. We need to take our steps. There is no success or titles without such moments."
Kompany's team started well, hitting the post through Jamal Musiala before Bundesliga top scorer Kane put them in front in the 15th minute after a stunning turn on the edge of the box and a low drive for his 17th goal of the campaign.
Kane had combined with Eric Dier to score, making this the first time two Englishmen have linked for a goal in the Bundesliga since records started in 2004-05.
Bayern defender Kim headed in at the near post from a corner nine minutes after the restart to make it 2-0 but it was far from over with the visitors easing off.
Freiburg pulled a goal back in the 68th minute through Matthias Ginter's header and went on the attack, carving out several chances for an equaliser but could not avoid a third straight league loss as they dropped to ninth in the standings.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond, William Maclean)
