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MUNICH. — Bayern Munich’s third-choice goalkeeper Tom Starke stepped in at the last minute as the German Bundesliga soccer leaders went eight points clear with a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday night.

The 36-year-old veteran started the season as goalkeeping coach co-ordinator in Bayern’s academy after retiring in May, but dusted off his gloves when Germany keeper Manuel Neuer fractured his foot in September. Starke was supposed to be on the bench for the win at Eintracht, gained thanks to Arturo Vidal’s fourth goal in as many games, but hastily pulled on the gloves after Neuer’s understudy Sven Ulreich injured his groin in the warm-up.

“I have been doing this for a few years and the juices are still flowing. It was a difficult game and we are absolutely happy with the result,” said Starke. Bayern’s win means that they cannot be caught at the top before the winter break, which starts on December 17, and makes them “Herbstmeister” (Autumn champions) for the seventh season in a row.

Head coach Jupp Heynckes rang the changes from Tuesday’s 3-1 win at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, starting midweek goalscorers Robert Lewandowski and Corentin Tolisso on the bench.

“You could see that was a difficult game against an uncomfortable opponent. It was hard work, but the team presented themselves really well for 95 minutes. You have to fight right until the very end in games like that, which is what my team did,” said Heynckes.

Tough-tackling midfielder Vidal netted the winner by heading home a Joshua Kimmich cross on 20 minutes. However, after being booked in the first-half, the Chilean international was lucky to escape a red after fouling Marius Wolf with just under 40 minutes left and Heynckes hauled Vidal off soon after. “The incident is hard to evaluate, but the referee was standing near by, so I think he made the right decision,” said Heynckes. — AFP.