Lyon vs Bayern Munich. UEFA Champions League Semi-Final.
Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Report as Robert Lewandowski adds 15th Champions League goal of season - two short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record
Thursday 20 August 2020 11:33, UK
A first-half double from Serge Gnabry helped put Bayern Munich into their first Champions League final since 2013 with a 3-0 win against Lyon.
Moments after Karl Toko Ekambi had hit the post for underdogs Lyon, Gnabry unleashed a thunderbolt of an effort past a stranded Anthony Lopes from 20 yards to open the scoring 17 minutes in.
That turned the tide following the French side's bright start, with Bayern suddenly in full control, and a second followed 12 minutes before the break when Robert Lewandowski's slid effort was turned into Gnabry's path by Lopes for the German to net a simple finish.
After half-time Toko Ekambi should have halved the deficit but fired straight at Manuel Neuer when one on one, before Lewandowski's towering header from a free-kick (88) - his 55th goal of the season - proved the cherry on the cake as Bayern set up a Champions League final date with PSG.
Bayern came into Wednesday's semi-final favourites to win both the game and tournament itself, but it could have been a very different night for Hansi Flick's side had Memphis Depay not fired wide on the break early on after rounding Neuer.
The German side were controlling possession but in danger of a repeat performance served up by Manchester City on Saturday night, with Lyon routinely catching them out on the break in the opening quarter of an hour, and only the width of a post stopped them falling behind when Ekambi cut inside Alphonso Davies before rattling the woodwork from close-range.
Perhaps that served as a wake-up call. Within moments, Joshua Kimmich's floated ball to Gnabry was brought inside by the winger, before he fired an unstoppable shot past Lopes with space opening up.
From that point, Bayern never really looked back. Gnabry and Lewandowski both wasted presentable chances before the pair combined for the second goal. Ivan Perisic's cross was scuffed goalwards by Lewandowski, and from Lopes' save Gnabry stabbed home to double his tally for the night and give Bayern one foot in the final.
Lyon regrouped at the break, though, and showed they were not done when Houssem Aouar picked out Ekambi on the right of the box with a perfect pass, but the forward was denied by an onrushing Neuer as another fine chance passed the French side by.
With 10 minutes to go, substitute Philippe Coutinho looked to have put the game beyond doubt when he touched in Thomas Muller's threaded pass, only to be denied by an offside flag.
But Lyon's task would become impossible with barely 90 seconds remaining, as Lewandowski rose easily above Marcal to nod in Kimmich's free-kick as Bayern secured another comprehensive victory - and their 10th in a row in this season's Champions League - to reach the final.
The West Brom statistic will be brought up until the cows come home but Gnabry has always had the talent, just not always the attitude.
This season has been the pinnacle of the 25-year-old's career so far and this game among the best.
The quality of his first strike was the spark Bayern needed to extinguish Lyon's bright start, and his second showed the anticipation which has earned him 23 goals this season.
Bayern Munich will take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final on Sunday at 8pm. Follow live build-up and coverage on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
