More brillant play from Leroy Sane as he sprints away from three Stuttgart players inside his own half before surging over the halfway line to launch another counter.

The momentum of the move eventually breaks down though and Raphael Guerreiro's cross towards Thomas Muller is claimed by Alexander Nubel.

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Stuttgart are struggling to get out at the moment.

Twice Dan-Axel Zagadou is forced to just boot the ball anywhere when a Bayern attack breaks down.

Harry Kane then fires at Alexander Nubel when he perhaps should have done better, but the offside flag had gone up anyway.

Bayern Munich are so dangerous on the counter attack.

This latest counter is actually started by Harry Kane, who had been back defending.

His long pass found Thomas Muller, who in turn played in Leroy Sane, with his low shot from a tight angle going inches wide.

Leroy Sane goes for the shot despite the tight angle and Alexander Nubel punches away with two hands.

Lovely quick feet from Jamal Musiala bamboozles Maximilian Mittelstadt, who brings down the Bayern man right on the edge of the box on the right-hand side.

Free-kick Bayern in a very dangerous position.

What a stop by Alexander Nubel!

It is a rapid counter by Bayern led by Leroy Sane, who closes in on goal and unleashes a rocket of a shot that Nubel pushes away at full stretch diving low to his left.

Kim had strayed offside so the goal is ruled out.

As you were.

Video Assistant Refereepublished at 18:56 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December 2023

18:56 GMT 17 December 2023

Bayern Munich 2-0 Stuttgart

Hold on - VAR is going to take another look. Kim Min-jae may have just strayed offside.

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Alphonso Davies finds some space on the left side of the area but his low cross evades three Bayern players and Stuttgart can clear.

Atakan Karazor connects with a sweetly-struck volley on the edge of the box but it smacks straight into the body of team-mate Serhou Guirassy.

That may have troubled Manuel Neuer had it not hit the Stuttgart striker.

Maximilian Mittelstadt has an effort on goal with the outside of his left foot, but he cannot generate much power so it is comfortable for Manuel Neuer to save.

The visitors have settled a bit after that disastrous start.

Serhou Guirassy has his first sight of goal after spinning away from his marker on the edge of the box, but two Bayern defenders converge and block the shot, with the ball dribbling through to Manuel Neuer.

Bayern are swarming over Stuttgart at the moment.

A good ball from Jamal Musiala finds the onrushing Konrad Laimer, who gets in behind the defence and fires in a shot from a tight angle that is deflected behind for a corner.

Looking at the replay and it was not the most convincing bit of goalkeeping from Alexander Nubel, who is on loan at Stuttgart from Bayern.

I'm sure will have desperately wanted to impress against his parent club this evening.

There is still time to make amends at least.

The visitors get the game started!

Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness is certainly from strong footballing stock. He is the son of former Germany international Dieter Hoeness, and the nephew of Uli Hoeness, also a former international and the former president of Bayern Munich.

He took over Stuttgart in April and kept them up courtesy of a 6-1 aggregate victory over Hamburg in the relegation play-off.

They have made a brilliant start to this campaign, winning 10 of their first 14 league games to sit fourth.

Image source, Getty Images

Bayern Munich, champions for the past 11 seasons, were thrashed 5-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt last week, their first Bundesliga defeat of the season.

They responded with a 1-0 win at Manchester United in the Champions League in midweek, with their passage to the knockout stages already secured. But they will want another win tonight to keep the pressure on leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who moved seven points clear with a 3-0 win over Frankfurt earlier today.

Tonight's game sees the top two in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts, Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy, go head-to-head.

Kane is the league's top scorer with 18 goals, coming at an average of one every 63 minutes.

However, Guirassy's 16 goals, already the best haul in a single season of his career, comes at a rate of one every 55 minutes.

It is little surprise therefore to see the 27-year-old Guinea striker being linked with a big-money move to the Premier League in January.

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