Alphonso Davies makes league debut for Bayern Munich in win
Canadian teen comes off bench in Bundesliga match
Canadian teenager Alphonso Davies made his Bundesliga debut Sunday, coming off the bench in the 86th minute of Bayern Munich's 4-1 home win over VfB Stuttgart.
He arrived two minutes after Polish international Robert Lewandowski, making up for an earlier missed penalty, scored to make it 4-1 with his 99th goal in all competitions at Allianz Arena. Davies took up an advanced position on the left side of the field before the crowd of 75,000.
The 18-year-old follows fellow Canadian internationals Paul Stalteri, Kevin McKenna, Rob Friend, Olivier Occean, Simeon Jackson, Marcel de Jong, Julian de Guzman and Daniel Imhof in seeing Bundesliga action.
Davies joined Bayern (13-3-3) from the Vancouver Whitecaps in an MLS record-breaking $22-million US transfer deal that runs through 2023. The deal was done in July but Davies finished out the MLS season before joining Bayern this month.
Great result today....happy to make my Bundesliga debut💪🏾💪🏾 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AD19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AD19</a> <a href="https://t.co/Pzikzr3GQ9">pic.twitter.com/Pzikzr3GQ9</a>
—@AlphonsoDaviesBayern boss Niko Kovac named an unchanged side from the team that beat Hoffenheim 3-1 nine days ago to mark the Bundesliga's return to action after its traditional winter break. Davies was also on the bench that day and did not see action.
Veterans Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben remained out injured.
Welcome to your new home, <a href="https://twitter.com/AlphonsoDavies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlphonsoDavies</a> 👋🇨🇦<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCBVfB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FCBVfB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MiaSanMia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MiaSanMia</a> <a href="https://t.co/HVJOmVyTNK">pic.twitter.com/HVJOmVyTNK</a>
—@FCBayernENKovac brought on German international Serge Gnabry at halftime. Colombia international James Rodriguez came on in the 74th minute. Davies came in for Kingsley Coman.
Second-place Bayern, after its seventh straight league win, moved within six points of league leader Borussia Dortmund. Unbeaten in seven, its last Bundesliga loss was a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on Nov. 10.
Davies did start in Bayern's penalty shootout win over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the final of the Telekom Cup, a four-team competition held during the winter break. Prior to that, he took part in Bayern's week-long training camp in Doha.
WATCH | John Herdman discusses Davies's potential:
