Bayern was in control of the game from the start, but had difficulty penetrating a solid Koln defence initially. Koln laid back and concentrated on defence from the start. It was a game of nerves initially. The fact that Ribery was send off in the 33rd minute, did not help Munich to get the upper hand on the scoreboard. Ribery was send off after a yellow card in the 33rd minute, after which he went after Koln's Sereno again, grabbing his face. This resulted in the second yellow card of the game.
The second half started with a bang. Just three minutes into the half, Koln lost the ball on a counter, Bayern quickly switched to offence and Mueller penetrated Koln's 16 meter area, while keeping an eye on Gomez, who moved up with him. Mueller's pass allows Gomez to slide the ball into the net. 1-0 Bayern.
It seemed as if the goal opened the flood gates, Alaba who substituted for Ribery, scored in the 63rd minute. The Austrian international, who looked lively from the outset,m was quick to show his killer instinct. Kroos took a corner and placed it over friend and foe into the five meter area, Alaba was well placed in the area and fired the ball unhampered into the net for his second goal of the season.
Toni Kroos added the third goal for Bayern in the 88th minute. After Olic did the preliminary work, Alaba picked up the ball in the penalty are and passed the ball through to Kroos, in a turnabout the Kroos fired the ball into the net. This was Kroos's first goal of the season.
The win was well deserved by FC Bayern. Koln put stacked their deck of cards on a defensive game. The game was won with patience, especially since Bayern played shorthanded. The win solidifies the lead in the league and Bayern is Herbstmeister. Bayern leads Dortmund with six points, prior to their Matchday 17 match against SC Freiburg tomorrow.
Although this is only a measure of the first half fo the season, Munich has captured the championship 14 out of 16 seasons when they led at the halfway mark.
Matchday 17
16.12.11,20.30 Bayern München - 1. FC Köln 3-0
17.12.11,15.30 Hamburger SV - FC Augsburg 1-1
17.12.11,15.30 SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund 1-4
17.12.11,15.30 1899 Hoffenheim - Hertha BSC Berlin 1-1
17.12.11,15.30 VfL Wolfsburg - VfB Stuttgart 1-0
17.12.11,15.30 Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Nürnberg 0-3
17.12.11,18.30 Schalke 04 - Werder Bremen 5-0
18.12.11,15.30 Kaiserslautern - Hannover 96 1-1
18.12.11,17.30 Mönchengladbach - FSV Mainz 05 1-0
Bundelsiga Table Updated 16 December 2011
GP W D L GF/GA Pts
1 Bayern München 17 12 1 4 43:10 37
2 Borussia Dortmund 17 10 4 3 35:12 34
3 Schalke 04 17 11 1 5 38-22 34
4 Borussia Mönchengladbach 17 10 3 4 25:11 33
5 Werder Bremen 17 9 2 6 30-31 29
6 Bayer Leverkusen 17 7 5 5 22:22 26
7 Hannover 96 17 5 8 4 20-24 23
8 VfB Stuttgart 17 6 4 7 23:20 22
9 1899 Hoffenheim 17 6 4 7 19:18 22
10 1. FC Köln 17 6 3 8 27:35 21
11 Hertha BSC Berlin 17 4 8 5 23:26 20
12 VfL Wolfsburg 17 6 2 9 23:34 20
13 Hamburger SV 17 4 7 6 21:27 19
14 FSV Mainz 05 17 4 6 7 22:29 19
15 1. FC Nürnberg 17 5 3 9 17:28 18
16 1. FC Kaiserslautern 17 3 7 7 13:21 16
17 FC Augsburg 17 3 6 8 15:28 15
18 SC Freiburg 17 3 4 10 21:39 13 18 SC Freiburg 17 3 4 10 21:39 13
It sure was a very exciting game....great to see Alaba and Kroos getting goals....Whoo Hoo great going for Munich shorthanded winning....thanks
ReplyDeleteYep definitely a great match. Slow and easy does it. Patience paid off this time. Congrats to Bayern.
ReplyDelete