Gotze gives Bayern win against Inter Milan in Shanghai friendly
Mario Gotze came off the bench to net a late winner as Bayern Munich beat Inter Milan 1-0 in Shanghai.
The 23-year-old Germany international latched on to a pass from Sebastian Rode and took advantage of some sloppy defending to round the keeper and slot home with 10 minutes to go.
It was a deserved win for the Bundesliga champions, who were never really threatened by their Serie A opponents throughout the pre-season friendly.
Of all the new faces on show, including Inter pair Geoffrey Kondogbia and Martin Montoya - who arrived this summer from Monaco and Barcelona respectively - it was Bayern's Douglas Costa who was by far the most impressive in the first half.
The former Shakhtar Donetsk man was a constant threat down the right-hand side, creating a string of chances for his team-mates including Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller.
But it was Philipp Lahm, later forced off through injury, who had the best chance before the interval. Muller found the ball in the box for Bayern, before flicking one past Inter keeper Samir Handanovic into the path of Lahm, but he was denied when Jeison Murillo cleared his low shot off the line.
Muller also had the chance to break the deadlock just before half-time, when the superb Costa again left his man for dead before cutting into the box and finding him in the box, but the German's low effort across goal skimmed just wide of the post.
As ever with these pre-season friendlies, a host of half-time substitutions completely interrupted the flow of the game, and it took a while for Bayern to get going again after making four changes at the break.
Lewandowski had a chance again to net after a neat dummy from Gotze left him clear in the area, but the Polish striker blazed over the bar in a position from which he should have done far better.
Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa is tracked by Inter Milan's Mateo Kovacic during the friendly in Shanghai.
It seemed as though the game would peter out, but suddenly Gotze was found by his fellow substitute Rode with 10 minutes to go, and with the Inter defence nowhere to be found he rounded the keeper before slotting home.
