Bayern went into the game under pressure from the top down, in the form of CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's call for a "response" to their midweek Champions League defeat at Bordeaux.
Chances for Bayern
That response took the initial form of a mixture of robust tackling and sloppy passing in the final third of the park. On six minutes Miroslav Klose nearly had them in front however, firing a shot on the turn just wide after a cross from Philipp Lahm reached him by way of Luca Toni's knee.
Eintracht were holding their shape well against the home side in the opening stages and it was not until midway through the half that Bayern were able to carve out another clear-cut opportunity. Klose put Toni clean through on Oka Nikolov, but the Italian World Cup-winner was unable to steer the ball past the Frankfurt keeper, who then had to make an immediate follow-up save to deny Thomas Müller.
Toni goes close
A couple of minutes before half time Toni was in the thick of it again, getting off a shot from the edge of the box that rattled the post. The referee blew for the interval shortly after and, despite having had most of the play and by far the best chances, a generally uninspired Bayern left the pitch to the accompaniment of some dissatisfied whistles from the terraces.
The match picked up in the second 45 pretty much where it had left off, with Bayern making the running and Frankfurt happy to sit back and wait for their opportunity on the break. Bastian Schweinsteiger fired a shot straight at Nikolov from outside the box (47.), and the midfielder hit an effort on the turn inches wide six minutes later.
Visitors in front
Coach Louis van Gaal brought Robben on for Klose in the 59th minute and the effect was instantaneous - at the other end. Patrick Ochs freed Alexander Meier up inside the box and the striker coolly slotted the ball past Bayern goalie Jörg Butt.
Five minutes later, Butt pushed away a shot by Ochs from a tight angle as Frankfurt warmed to their attacking game. In the 67th minute, Meier was ruled marginally offside when clean through.
Just when things were starting to look rocky for Bayern however, Müller put in a high cross, Mario Gomez - who had only come off the bench seven minutes earlier - got to the ball ahead of Nikolov in the air, and Robben was left with the task of steering it into the empty net.
Grandstand finish
Three minutes later a header from Toni pulled an acrobatic save out of Nikolov as the hosts tried to reassert their dominance. For all their effort, the game looked to be heading for a draw, but with just two minutes of regulation time remaining Müller latched onto a long ball from Lahm and set up van Buyten to head home the winner.
Nikolov pulled off two more back-to-back saves from Robben and Schweinsteiger at the death, so 2-1 remained and Bayern had their victory - but it was a long time coming.
Goals: 0-1 Meier (60.), 1-1 Robben (69.), 2-1 van Buyten (88.)
FC Bayern: Butt - Lahm, van Buyten, Badstuber , Pranjic - van Bommel, Tymoshchuk (Gomez, 62.) Schweinsteiger, T. Müller - Klose (Robben, 59.) Toni (Demichelis 86.)
Frankfurt: Nikolov - Franz, Chris, Russ, Spycher - P. Ochs, Teber, Bajramovic, Schwegler - A. Meier (Fenin, 77.) - Liberopoulos
Attendance: 69.000
