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Bayern Munich's Jupp Heynckes Full of Praise for Arturo Vidal After Win Over Frankfurt

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Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes was full of praise for midfielder Arturo Vidal after his 20th minute header helped the Bavarians secure a hard fought 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Vidal found himself unmarked on the end of a Joshua Kimmich cross, and was able to head beyond the keeper to score the only goal of the game, and has now scored in Bayern's last four Bundesliga games.

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Speaking after the win (via ESPN), Heynckes praised Vidal's performance, saying: "It's to Arturo's credit. He has played many outstanding games for Bayern in the last few years, but has been a little out of sorts recently. The player has to make the change himself -- naturally with my help."

When asked about the eight point lead at the top of the table his side secured after RB Leipzig drew 2-2 with Mainz later in the day, Heynckes was quick to defuse the title talk, adding: 

"The autumn championship is not important, what is important is the team are back playing good, attractive football again and we are able to win games like today.

"I won't deny the table is very pleasant to look at with our lead, but we won't get carried away celebrating."

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Heading into the game, Bayern were faced with a number of injuries, which was reflected by the fact Heynckes made six changes to the side which beat PSG 3-1 during the week. 

Speaking about whether these injuries had an effect on the game, Heynckes admitted: "Of course, we have different ambitions on how we want to play, but Thomas Muller is only just back after a six-week injury break.

"Franck Ribery was out for nine weeks -- only playing his second game and has not played a full 90 minutes. I had to take off Kingsley Coman as well because he was still carrying an injury from Tuesday [against Paris Saint-Germain]. 

"I also did not allow Robert Lewandowski to start because he is still battling a problem with his patella. 

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"David Alaba was also injured for a long time and recently had another two-week break. "I know what is and what isn't possible, but it's vital to win these type of games. 

"We made five changes plus we had Tom Starke in goal today. Of course, we have a very good squad but with these type of problems, you cannot expect to perform like we did on Tuesday against PSG."

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Starke was a later addition to the starting line up after Sven Ulreich picked up an injury during the warm up - which Heynckes confirmed was an adductor problem - however the Bayern boss was also full of praise for the stand in keeper, who had joined the coaching staff at the club at the start of the season, before an injury to Manuel Neuer persuaded him to reverse his decision.

Heynckes added: "I have to say Tom performed brilliantly considering the circumstances." 

The win guarenteed that Bayern would be top of the Bundesliga at Christmas, however Heynckes won't be worrying about that, and instead will now turn his attention to their next Bundesliga game against FC Koln at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, hoping his side don't pick up anymore injuries before then.

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