Bayern Munich 1 v Borussia Mönchengladbach 0
Late Robben strike sends Bayern up to third
Bayern are finally up to third spot in the Bundesliga, the Champions League qualifying berth the club so desperately craves, after beating Borussia Monchengladbach at home on Saturday, although the champions made heavy weather of the meeting with the doomed bottom club until Arjen Robben’s 77th-minute opener.
The 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena saw an uninspiring first half in which Louis van Gaal’s side struggled for inspiration against the disciplined visiting defence, and although Munich upped the urgency after the restart, it was a frustrating afternoon until Robben’s precious strike relieved the mounting tension and pressure.
The hard-earned victory, combined with Hannover’s 4-1 defeat away to leaders Dortmund, sees the champions move up to third in the Bundesliga on 51 points from 28 matches, now a point ahead of Hannover and seven off second-placed Leverkusen, 1-0 winners in Kaiserslautern. The Bavarians are next in action in the sixth-to-last match of the campaign away to high-flying Bavarian neighbours Nuremberg on Saturday 9 April.
Van Gaal made just one enforced change to the line-up which chalked up a vital 2-1 victory away to Freiburg a fortnight ago, Holger Badstuber coming in for Daniel van Buyten (hamstring) at centre-half alongside Luiz Gustavo. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos anchored the midfield, with the attacking duties entrusted as normal to Robben Franck Ribery, Thomas Müller and Mario Gomez.
Once referee Christian Dingert whistled the match underway on a glorious spring afternoon in Munich, Marco Reus posed an early threat as the reformed FCB defence settled at a leisurely pace, but Thomas Kraft comfortably held the Gladbach man’s speculative drive.
Bayern claimed far more of the possession after the opening exchanges and Robben twice tried his luck, curling a 25-yard free-kick wide of the target and then loosing off a shot visiting keeper Logan Bailly could only parry, Gomez narrowly failing to net the rebound.
The pace dropped midway through the half as the teams struggled for fluency, the crowd becoming a tad restless as passes went astray on both sides. Danijel Pranjic’s cross-cum-shot landed on the roof of the net, and Gustavo reacted smartly to deny Reus a clear shooting chance, but the first half drew to a close with the match deadlocked at 0-0.
Robben, Ribery and Gomez all visibly sought to inject pace and urgency after the restart, but two Ribery free-kicks came to nothing, the Frenchman drove narrowly wide, and Bailly made the save from a bobbling Robben shot after Gomez made a nuisance of himself in the six-yard box.
Badstuber made an excellent interception on the hour as Gladbach poured forward on the break, the visitors forcing a couple of corners in their best spell of the match, but the home side were stung into a response and camped out in the visitors’ half for a long period.
Another Ribery set-piece sailed into the crowd, before the lively Reus whipped a volley onto the roof of the net from the tightest of angles, and blasted wide of the far stick with the FCB defence standing off. Miro Klose and Andi Ottl replaced Müller and Kroos for the last 20 minutes, and there were immediate chances for Gomez at the one end and Gladbach sub Mo Idrissou at the other.
The moment of relief for all associated with Bayern came on 77 minutes when Robben picked up a loose Reus pass in midfield, raced into the box, and exchanged passes with Ribery before beating Bailly from close range.
The men in red were lifted by the opener and piled on the pressure now. Klose saw his cross-shot hit the outside of the post, Robben was denied a stonewall penalty after being tripped by Bailly, and Schweinsteiger curled one past the post, before the referee blew for time and confirmed the vital win.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
MATCH STATS
Bayern Munich - Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-0 (H-T: 0-0)
Bayern Munich: Kraft - Lahm, Luiz Gustavo, Badstuber, Pranjic - Schweinsteiger, Kroos (Ottl 72) - Robben, Müller (Klose 72), Ribéry - Gomez
Substitutes: Butt, Breno, Contento, Altintop
Borussia Mönchengladbach: Bailly - Jantschke, Stranzl, Dante, Daems - Neustädter (Brouwers 86), Nordveidt - Reus, Herrmann (Matmour 63), Arango - Hanke (Idrissou 72)
Substitutes: Heimeroth, Levels, Fink, Marx
Referee: Christian Dingert (Thallichtenberg)
Spectators: 69,000 (capacity)
Goals: 1-0 Robben (77)
Yellow Cards: Lahm, Robben / Reus
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
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