MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Michael Olise fired Bayern Munich into the knockout stages of the Club World Cup, scoring in the 84th minute for a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Friday night.
German champion Bayern made it two wins in Group C and advanced to the round of 16 with a game to spare.
Olise secured the victory at Hard Rock Stadium after Miguel Merentiel had put Boca in position for a draw with a brilliant solo goal in the 66th.
Bayern, which tops the group, took the lead on Harry Kane’s clinical finish in the 18th and went on to miss of a slew of chances before Merentiel’s equalizer.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we knew we were coming into a hostile environment, hot weather, it was tough,” Kane said. “It’s a massive tournament. We are playing against the best teams in the world. We just have to compete to our highest level and we should be able to beat most teams.”
The victory did come at a cost.
Star German midfielder Jamal Musiala went off injured only 25 minutes after entering the game and was substituted by national team veteran Thomas Müller in the 82nd minute.
The nature of his injury wasn’t immediately known. The 22 year-old had been recovering from a torn hamstring during the Bundesliga season.
Boca Juniors still have a chance to advance, but they would need to rout Auckland City on Tuesday and have Benfica lose to Bayern the same day.
“We have to find a way (to advance). A draw would’ve been great but it’s up to us to compete and do our best and I would not be surprised if that happened,” coach Miguel Angel Russo said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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