Javi Martínez's extra-time header wins Super Cup for Bayern against Sevilla
Bayern Munich defeated Sevilla 2-1 in extra time on Thursday to lift the Super Cup and complete a quadruple under their head coach, Hansi Flick, in the first European game played with fans in the stands since the sport returned amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Javi Martínez, a substitute, headed the winner in the 104th minute after the Europa League winners, Sevilla, had taken a 13th-minute lead through Lucas Ocampos’s penalty and Bayern levelled through Leon Goretzka in the 34th minute.
The German club, unbeaten now in 32 consecutive matches and winners of the domestic league and cup double as well as the Champions League, missed more than half a dozen clear scoring chances. Their last defeat was in December 2019.
Bayern were the better side throughout and missed a bagful of chances through Robert Lewandowski, Benjamin Pavard and Thomas Müller in the first half. Yet it was Bayern goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, who kept them in the game with a one-on-one save against Youssef En-Nesyri to send the match to extra time and he then pushed another shot from the Sevilla player on to a post two minutes into extra time.
The Spaniards gradually ran out of steam, however, and it was only a matter of time until Bayern scored again.
Martínez, who is reportedly close to agreeing to a return to Athletic Bilbao this season, had come on five minutes earlier and benefited from being given too much space to head in on the rebound. The Spaniard also scored in extra time in Bayern’s only previous Super Cup win, in 2013.
About 15,000 fans were seated in Budapest’s Puskas Arena, with the game seen as a test event for the gradual return of fans to games in mainland Europe.
The match was held amid a growing second wave of Covid-19, with Hungarian cases at record highs, which had prompted warnings of the possible consequences of mass gatherings such as this match.