Hannover 96 v Bayern Munich 3-1
Ten-man Munich suffer seventh defeat of term
Bayern’s aim of finishing second in the Bundesliga this season is in serious jeopardy after the champions lost a head-to-head clash with high-flying Hannover on an afternoon when it all went wrong for Louis van Gaal and his men.
The 49,000 full house at the AWD Arena saw Mohammed Abdellaoue hand Hannover an early lead, as Munich dominated first half possession but made little headway against the compact and sprightly home team. Konstantin Rausch doubled the advantage six minutes after the restart, but Arjen Robben immediately pulled one back, only for calamity to strike on the hour when Sergio Pinto netted a soft third for the home side.
FCB were reduced to ten men with quarter of an hour to play when Breno was sent off for retaliation, and although the visitors kept up the fight until the bitter end, they were destined to leave empty-handed against what is now the best home team in the league.
The demoralising result means the champions remain fourth in the standings on 42 points from 25 games, now five behind Hannover in second and four off Leverkusen, who play Wolfsburg in the evening match. The Bavarians are next in Bundesliga action at home to Hamburg a week from now, before Inter visit the Allianz Arena in the Champions League the following Tuesday.
With Bastian Schweinsteiger suspended and Luiz Gustavo sick, Van Gaal made two enforced changes to the team beaten 1-0 by Schalke in the midweek cup semi-final, Holger Badstuber starting at left-back for the first time this term, and Toni Kroos deputising for Schweinsteiger alongside Danijel Pranjic in defensive midfield.
Otherwise it was a case of ‘as you were’, with Franck Ribery and Robben out wide, Thomas Müller in the hole behind Mario Gomez, and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Breno and captain Philipp Lahm at the back. The home side, whose 44 points before kick-off were earned with a mere 34 goals, were captained by USA stalwart Steve Cherundolo and featured former FCB man Jan Schlaudraff in a free role up front.
Once referee Dr. Jochen Drees whistled the match underway on a bright but chilly afternoon in Lower Saxony, Schlaudraff set up the first chance with a thrust past Badstuber and cross, only for Rausch to drag his volley wide of the upright. Rasuch did better with his next opening, capitalising on Bayern’s carelessness in possession and racing clear down the left before crossing for the sliding Abdellaoue to poke home the 16th-minute opener.
The goalscorer whipped a centre across the face of goal while the visitors were still regrouping, but FCB finally found their feet midway through the half, Pranjic and Robben both warming keeper Ron-Robert Zieler’s gloves from long range, and although Thomas Kraft was also called on to deal with an Emanuel Pogatetz header, Müller put an even more promising chance over the Hannover bar.
But FCB still looked uncomfortable at the back, and there was a let-off on 37 minutes when Rausch dragged a 10-yard shot wide with the whole goal to aim at. Gomez vented his fury at the ref for failing to spot a trip by Karim Haggui in the box, but the play again switched rapidly to the other end, Abdellaoue steering the last chance of the half wide of the target.
Van Gaal reacted to the unsatisfactory first 45 minutes by sending on Daniel van Buyten and Andi Ottl for Tymoshchuk and Badstuber, Pranjic switching to left-back and Ottl taking up station in midfield, but Munich were left reeling in shock when Rausch blasted Hannover’s second on 51 minutes with a cross-shot took a deflection off Gomez on the way in.
Müller ought to have had a penalty after Cherundolo’s foul and Abdellaoue shot straight at Kraft when clean through, but Bayern were right back in it on 55 minutes after Müller wrestled possession off Haggui, Ribery crossed from the by-line and Robben stooped to head home at the back stick.
FCB looked really up for it now, only for calamity to strike on the hour when Kraft, such a safe pair of hands up until then, allowed Pinto’s speculative drive to slip through his fingers and over the line. Kroos drove wide, before Robben hit the side-netting and was then denied at point-blank range by Zieler after superb work by Gomez.
Miro Klose replaced Kroos and Van Buyten went up front for the last 20 minutes, but Müller shot straight at Zieler, and the keeper grabbed a loose ball at Gomez’ feet. Matters deteriorated on 73 minutes when Breno saw red for retaliating to Lars Stindl’s niggling, and although the ten men of Munich never gave up the struggle, Hannover now the space to create chances on the break. Kraft twice saved well from sub Moritz Stoppelkamp to prevent a heavier defeat on a dismal day for the men in red.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
MATCH STATS
Hannover 96 - Bayern Munich 3-1 (H-T: 1-0)
Hannover 96: Zieler - Cherundolo, Haggui, Pogatetz, Schulz – Stindl (Eggimann 88), Schmiedebach, Schlaudraff (Stoppelkamp 81), Pinto, Rausch (Chahed 77) – Abdellaoue
Substitutes: Fromlowitz, Djakpa, Carlitos, Lala
Bayern Munich: Kraft - Lahm, Tymoshchuk (Van Buyten 46), Breno, Badstuber (Ottl 46) - Kroos (Klose 69), Pranjic - Robben, Müller, Ribéry - Gomez
Substitutes: Butt, Altintop, Contento
Referee: Dr. Jochen Drees (Münster-Sarmsheim)
Spectators: 49,000 (capacity)
Goals: 1-0 Abdellaoue (16), 2-0 Rausch (51), 2-1 Robben (55), 3-1 Pinto (62)
Yellow Cards: Abdellaoue, Pinto / Kroos
Red Cards: Breno (serious foul play, 73)
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
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