Άλλη μια νίκη, με την οποία η διαφορά μας με τη Leverkusen μειώθηκε στο 1 τέρμα μόνο.

Παρακολούθησα το 2ο ημίχρονο, στο οποίο παίξαμε πολύ καλά και συγκεντρωμένα. Για σκοπούς ταχύτητας παραθέτω την αναφορά του παιχνιδιού από το fcbayern.de στα αγγλικά.

Bayern warmed up in the best possible manner for their Champions League clash against Fiorentina on Wednesday with a fully merited 3-1 home win over a young Borussia Dortmund side, although Louis van Gaal’s side came up just a goal short of going top of the Bundesliga table.

The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw Mohamed Zidan open for the visitors as Munich made an strangely jittery start, but Mark van Bommel levelled for the increasingly assured Bavarians as the sides turned round with the scores level. Arjen Robben notched his eighth of the season to put Bayern in front five minutes after the restart, and Mario Gomez sent his side into the comfort zone midway through the second period.

A ninth consecutive win in the league and a 15th match on the spin without defeat takes Bayern onto 48 points from 22 matches, dead level with leaders Leverkusen and just one behind on goal difference – although crucially, FCB have now scored a goal more than their chief rivals for the title.

Van Gaal had fielded an unchanged line-up for the last four league games, but made a change to accommodate Franck Ribery from the start this time. Ivica Olic dropped to the subs’ bench, with Thomas Müller pushed forward in support of Gomez up front. Otherwise, both Daniel van Buyten and Bastian Schweinsteiger returned after missing the midweek cup victory over Fürth with illness and injury respectively.

After referee Knut Kircher whistled play underway on a cold but dry evening in Munich, the men in red made an unexpectedly hesitant start. Sven Bender had already put one effort inches wide and seen a second cleared off the line by Van Bommel, before Zidan capitalised on a moment’s hesitation from Van Buyten to fire the visitors into a fifth-minute lead.

Lucas Barrios came perilously close to exploiting more uncertainty in the FCB defence and Jörg Butt parried Kevin Großkreutz’ swerving drive, but Müller and Schweinsteiger fashioned half-chances as the home side finally showed, and BVB keeper Marc Ziegler was called into action with good saves from Gomez and Müller.

Van Bommel’s 21st-minute equaliser from fully 25 yards owed a good deal to a deflection off Barrios, but it provided the spark for a much more controlled passage from FCB, as Ribery so nearly turned Müller’s cross in at the near post, and Gomez fired over on the turn following a lovely shimmy and burst of pace.

However, Dortmund bounced back with half-time approaching and Butt was suddenly forced into action, as Barrios’ neat close control took him into a shooting position, before the Argentine’s first touch let him down just yards from goal.

Bayern seized the lead five minutes after the restart when Robben tapped home into an unguarded net, but the genius came in the build-up from Müller’s ball to release Ribery, and the Frenchman’s sublime lay-off tantalisingly beyond the reach of a clutch of Borussia defenders.

BVB skipper Nuri Sahin curled a free-kick just over Butt’s crossbar as the men in red paused for breath, and Butt pulled off a stunning reaction save to keep out Barrios’ flicked header. That seemed to shake the home side awake, and Gomez’ 65th-minute finish with an angled drive after an explosive charge down the left channel was truly top drawer.

Olic replaced Ribery for the last 20 minutes, but the next chance fell to the visitors as Butt again saved well from Großkreutz, before Hamit Altintop took over from Robben in the closing phase. FCB were still a goal short of top spot at this point, but Gomez laid off for Olic when he might have scored himself, and Schweinsteiger saw a header come back off the bar as the game meandered to a close.

fcbayern.de