GreenBkk FCB | VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich 1-1

VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich 1-1

Bayern rue missed chances and late leveller

Thomas Müller’s early goal proved not enough to earn the restart win Bayern so craved after Sascha Riether levelled for Wolfsburg in the dying minutes of a roistering Bundesliga encounter, including a breathless first period with shots off the bar and missed penalties at both ends, and a memorable Bundesliga debut for 22-year-old FCB keeper Thomas Kraft.

The 30,000 full house at the Volkswagen Arena saw the champions roar off the blocks and take a seventh-minute lead through Müller from a Kraft assist, but Philipp Lahm missed a penalty and Franck Ribery hobbled off injured in a dramatic spell midway through the first half, which also saw Arjen Robben sent on for his long-awaited first appearance of the season.

Bayern’s dominance suddenly evaporated in the spell before the break, but Louis van Gaal’s side still led at the interval after Diego had a goal disallowed for offside and Kraft fisted Grafite’s penalty onto the crossbar. The frenetic pace died down considerably in the second period as the sides cancelled each other out, but just as Müller’s goal seemed likely to settle it, Sascha Riether poked home a fortunate equaliser to snatch a point for the Wolves.

The frustrating draw means Van Gaal’s men remain fifth in the standings on 30 points from 18 games, now 16 points off leaders Dortmund but only three adrift of Mainz and Leverkusen in second and third. The Bavarians’ next Bundesliga appointment is a week from now on 22 January at home to Kaiserslautern, followed by a DFB Cup quarter-final tie away to Aachen on 26 January.

Van Gaal made two changes to the side which beat VfL Stuttgart 6-3 in a remarkable cup encounter before Christmas. As announced in midweek, young Kraft made his top flight debut as the new first-choice keeper in place of Jörg Butt, and Holger Badstuber returned from a nine-week lay-off at Andi Ottl’s expense.

The Germany defender lined up alongside Breno at centre-back, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk reverting to his favoured defensive midfield role alongside Mark van Bommel. Danijel Pranjic retained his place at left-back against the claims of new signing Luiz Gustavo, with Bastian Schweinsteiger once again responsible for the playmaking duties.

Once referee Manuel Gräfe whistled play underway on a mild afternoon in Lower Saxony, the visitors made all the early running and Mario Gomez crashed a near-post effort off the bar from a Pranjic centre. But the lead was not long delayed, as Wolves keeper Diego Benaglio whacked his attempt to deal with Kraft’s massive clearance straight against Müller, the ball trundling into the empty net from 20 yards out.

Gomez was denied by a last-ditch Simon Kjaer tackle and Cicero blocked Van Bommel’s goalbound drive after Müller cleverly stepped over another fine Pranjic delivery, before Benaglio partly redeemed himself with a good save from Müller’s header. Ribery was still receiving treatment after a clumsy Josué challenge when Ashkan Dejagah clearly tripped Pranjic in the box, but Lahm placed his spot-kick against the post and the ball bounced across the face of goal and away to safety.

The consternation on the FCB bench increased at the sight of Ribery hobbling down the tunnel supported by members of the coaching staff, and Robben – who had warmed up in the dressing room after a sight of the rutted, heavy playing surface – found himself in action for the first time this term much earlier than he expected.

The action calmed for a spell before a first sign of life from the home team, Dejagah flicking a header onto the top of the bar, but Bayern hit back immediately, only a desperate Arne Friedrich lunge denying Gomez from Cicero’s calamitous back-pass, and Van Bommel aiming just too high from a decent position.

But after labouring under the FCB cosh for a full 40 minutes, the Wolves suddenly showed their teeth in the closing minutes of the first half. Diego’s direct free-kick somehow squirmed its way in at the near post, but Cicero was rightly called inches offside. Kraft blocked bravely after Grafite played in Diego, and Grafite himself planted a header narrowly wide of the target.

But there was yet more drama before the half-time whistle when Badstuber was harshly adjudged to have bundled Dejagah off the ball and referee Gräfe pointed to the spot for the second time. Grafite stepped up and applied plenty of power, but Kraft hurled himself and fingertipped the ball onto the bar as a thrilling half drew to a close.

It was always going to be difficult for the second period to match the excitement of the first, and the action was markedly less intense after the restart with relatively few chances in a more evenly-matched encounter. Benaglio held Robben’s skidding free-kick on 53 minutes, before Kraft again showed off all his ability to tip Mario Mandzukic’s header over the bar.

It was Benaglio’s turn to shine as the Switzerland number one capably dealt with a trademark dart inside and swerving shot from the increasingly influential Robben, before Luiz Gustavo came on for his senior Bayern debut in place of Tymoshchuk with 20 minutes remaining.

Breno did well to thwart Sascha Riether as the VfL man shaped to shoot, before Ottl took over from Pranjic to shore up the midfield for the final few minutes. However, Schweinsteiger’s slip allowed home skipper Marcel Schäfer to slide an 86th-minute pass across the six-yard box, where Riether simply stuck out a leg to prod home the equaliser.

It was not over yet as Müller netted the rebound when Benaglio failed to hold a last-minute Robben drive, but the Germany star was ruled fractionally offside. Schweinsteiger directed the last chance of the match over the bar as FCB were left to rue yet more dropped points on their travels.

Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley

MATCH STATS

VfL Wolfsburg - Bayern Munich 1-1 (H-T: 0-1)

VfL Wolfsburg Benaglio - Riether, Kjær, Friedrich, Schäfer - Josué (Pekarik 69), Cicero (Cigerci 46) - Dejagah, Diego (Kahlenberg 88), Mandzukic - Grafite

Bayern Munich Kraft - Lahm, Breno, Badstuber, Pranjic (Ottl 82) - Van Bommel, Tymoshchuk (Luiz Gustavo 69) - Müller, Schweinsteiger, Ribéry (Robben 25) - Gomez

Substitutes: Butt, Van Buyten, Altintop, Klose

Referee: Manuel Gräfe (Berlin)

Goals: 0-1 Müller (7), 1-1 Riether (86)

Yellow Cards: Mandzukic, Josué / Schweinsteiger, Badstuber

Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)