VfB Stuttgart v Bayern 3-6
Thrills galore as holders oust nine-man VfB
Bayern signed off for 2010 with a hard-fought victory over nine-man VfB Stuttgart in a rip-roaring DFB Cup last sixteen tie, featuring nine goals, a penalty save, two sendings-off, and a rare headed strike from Franck Ribery.
The 40,500 full house at the Mercedes-Benz Arena saw Andreas Ottl and Mario Gomez hand FCB a whirlwind start with goals in the first eight minutes, but the home side fought back and Pavel Pogrebnyak netted a brace on the half-hour and in first-half stoppage time to level the scores.
Sub Miro Klose restored Bayern’s lead seven minutes after the restart, before a breathtaking spell in which Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off, Jörg Butt saved a Christian Gentner penalty, and Matthieu Delpierre equalised with a header. But Bayern were not done yet and Thomas Müller made it 4-3 nine minutes from the end of normal time. Klose sealed the outcome with four minutes remaining, before Delpierre's dismissal and Ribery’s final flourish to round off the breathtaking entertainment.
The ultimately emphatic win means Van Gaal’s men remain well on course for a record 16th cup triumph, and also enter the brief winter break with their confidence soaring on the back of three convincing victories with 14 goals for and only six against. The Bavarians’ Bundesliga campaign restarts on 15 January away to Wolfsburg, with the cup quarter-final on 25 or 26 January.
Van Gaal made two changes to the side which beat the same opponents 5-3 in Sunday’s remarkable encounter on the same ground. Bastian Schweinsteiger recovered from the flu and came in for the injured Hamit Altintop, with Danijel Pranjic back in the side at Diego Contento’s expense. VfB boss Bruno Labbadia began with the side which finished the game on Sunday, an attacking line-up featuring two-goal Martin Harnik alongside Cacau and Pogrebnyak.
Once referee Florian Meyer opened proceedings on a positively mild December night in south-west Germany, the cup holders ripped into their shell-shocked opponents and were two up after just eight minutes. With six minutes on the clock, Franck Ribery passed infield to Ottl fully 30 yards out, the Munich-born midfielder steadying himself before unleashing a thunderbolt past keeper Sven Ulreich’s forlorn dive and into the top corner.
With the home side reeling, FCB struck mercilessly just two minutes later. Philipp Lahm released Müller down the left, from where the Germany starlet crossed for Gomez to muscle in front of Boulahrouz and score at the near post.
The match settled for a spell after the opening fireworks, but for all VfB’s huffing and puffing, their only half-chances were a scuffed Cacau shot and Pogrebnyak’s header wide. Ribery directed a free-kick off target, but Munich never looked in real trouble until Gomez was forced to give way to Klose with injury on the half-hour.
The change seemed to subdue Van Gaal’s side, and Pogrebnyak pulled one back almost immediately after Harnik escaped down the right and centred into the corridor of uncertainty behind Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Breno in central defence.
Bayern survived a huge scare on 38 minutes when Jörg Butt threw out a leg to deny Harnik with the Austria striker clean through, but VfB were not to be denied for long as Russia hitman Pogrebnyak collected Tymoshchuk’s weak clearing header, twisted past Breno and fired the equaliser high into the net.
Harnik and Cacau aimed just high and just wide respectively as Labbadia’s side came out fighting after the restart, but Van Gaal’s men regained the lead on 52 minutes after Ulreich and VfB skipper Delpierre played a game of after-you on the edge of the home box, allowing Klose to ghost in and score off the keeper’s legs.
FCB made a tactical switch now as Daniel van Buyten replaced Mark van Bommel and slotted in at centre-half, with Tymoshchuk stepping forward to defensive midfield, but the next huge chance fell to the home side, Harnik crashing a drive off the bar after Butt had parried a Ribery shot.
Butt saved from Pogrebnyak before the action became truly tumultuous, starting with Boulahrouz’ second yellow card for a foul on Schweinsteiger, and although the Germany international intervened with ref Meyer on his opponent’s behalf, the former Chelsea man had to go.
Stuttgart still poured forward and Butt was adjudged to have tripped Cacau, but the keeper redeemed himself with a well-judged save from Gentner’s 73rd-minute penalty. Undeterred, the ten men of VfB stuck to the task, Delpierre atoning for his error at the start of the half with a firm header to make the score 3-3 with quarter of an hour to go.
However, Labbadia’s men were clearly running short of power now and Munich re-exerted control in the closing stages. Müller capped a fine run to restore his side’s lead from a Ribery cross on 81 minutes, and Klose made the game safe five minutes later with a toe-poke over the line after Ribery diverted a Lahm cross.
Stuttgart finished the match with nine men after Delpierre’s dismissal for a second bookable offence, as a rousing cup tie came to an end with Ribery adding a sixth from a header after a precise Lahm cross.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
MATCH STATS
VfB Stuttgart - Bayern Munich 3-6 (H-T: 2-2)
VfB Stuttgart Ulreich – Boulahrouz, Tasci, Delpierre, Molinaro (Kuzmanovic 35) - Träsch, Gentner (Bicakcic 89) – Harnik, Boka - Cacau, Pogrebnyak
Substitutes: Ziegler, Degen, Bah, Elson, Schipplock
Bayern Munich Butt - Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Breno, Pranjic – Ottl, Van Bommel (van Buyten 54) – Schweinsteiger, Müller, Ribery – Gomez (Klose 30)
Substitutes: Kraft, Demichelis, Braafheid, Contento, Alaba
Referee: Florian Meyer (Burgdorf)
Spectators 40,500 (capacity)
Goals: 0-1 Ottl (6), 0-2 Gomez (8), 1-2 Pogrebnyak (32), 2-2 Pogrebnyak (45+1), 2-3 Klose (52), 3-3 Delpierre (77), 3-4 Müller (81), 3-5 Klose (86), 3-6 Ribery (90+4)
Yellow Cards: Boulahrouz, Boka, Delpierre / Tymoshchuk
Yellow/Red Cards: Boulahrouz (67, second yellow card), Delpierre (87, second yellow card)
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
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