Guardiola satisfied with lackluster win

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola blamed last week's international friendlies for the European champion's below-par performance in Saturday's labored 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.

A superb volley from Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic was the highlight of an otherwise off-key performance as Bayern failed to dominate Frankfurt despite enjoying 70 percent possession.

Guardiola pointed to the fact he had 15 of his 26-man squad away on international duty last Wednesday with their respective nations, allowing him only limited time to prepare for the trip to Eintracht.

The ex-Barcelona boss also said he was pleased to see the defending champion control the game better than it had done in its 3-1 home win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on the opening weekend of the season.

"We had much more control over the game compared to last week," said Guardiola, whose side is tied with Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the standings after the first two matches.

"We allowed Gladbach far too many chances on the break, but it was much better today.

"It's never easy after an international break, because we only had three days together.

"We still created plenty of chances, so I'm happy and 100 percent satisfied."

Guardiola made just one change to the team that beat Gladbach, with Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri in for Arjen Robben while new signing Mario Goetze was included in the match day squad for the first time but spent the game on the bench.

The result means Bayern has the maximum return of six points from its opening matches as it equaled the club record of 27 Bundesliga matches without defeat.

But Eintracht captain Alexander Meier had a penalty appeal turned down in the 90th minute and Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer admitted the Bavarians rode their luck.

Meier also had a goal ruled offside early in the second half, which left Neuer admitting he had been "hoping" to hear the whistle at Frankfurt's 51,500 capacity crowd at the Commerzbank Arena.

"It was tight at the end, but we have only ourselves to blame," said the Germany goalkeeper.

"That second goal was missing from our game."

(China Daily 08/19/2013 page23)