Pep Guardiola pleased to battle past Schalke 04

Pep Guardiola has claimed that the result was all that mattered after Bayern Munich battled to a 3-1 victory over Schalke 04.

Second-half goals from Javi Martinez and Thomas Muller secured the win after Max Meyer had cancelled out David Alaba's early opener at the Veltins Arena.

Guardiola was quick to pay tribute to his players for their response to Schalke's tactics when reflecting on their 12th win from 13 Bundesliga games.

"It was not easy to win here, but we did it in the end," he told reporters.

"I can only give the team a compliment. The pitch was not great and Schalke's five-man defence made life hard for us. They are very quick through the middle.

"We did a fine job until we conceded the equaliser. We took control of the game again after the break."

Bayern are now eight points clear of nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga.