Bayern Munich v 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5-1
Individual class sends Bayern up to third
An Arjen Robben strike in first-half stoppage time and a Mario Gomez hat-trick after the break were the highlights as Bayern completed a minor revenge mission against Kaiserslautern, who won the reverse fixture 2-0 back in August last year but were ultimately swept away by Bayern’s individual class on Saturday afternoon.
The 69,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the champions largely kept in check by the disciplined visitors, until a moment of Robben magic broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time. Gomez doubled the advantage a minute after the break, and although Jan Moravek pulled one back on the hour, Gomez struck his 14th and 15th league goals of the season in the last ten minutes to banish any lingering doubts. Thomas Müller made it five with the last kick to send the crowd home in jubilant spirits.
The win means Van Gaal’s men climb to third in the standings overnight on 33 points from 19 games, now 14 points off leaders Dortmund but only one off Hannover in second. The Bavarians are next in action this Wednesday evening in a DFB Cup quarter-final tie away to Alemannia Aachen.
Louis van Gaal made two changes to the team held 1-1 by Wolfsburg last week, handing a first start of the season to Robben, and a first start of his FCB career to Luiz Gustavo. Robben replaced the injured Franck Ribery but on the opposite flank, Müller switching to the left to accommodate the Dutchman.
Gustavo took up station alongside Mark van Bommel in defensive midfield, with Bastian Schweinsteiger in the hole behind Gomez. In defence, Van Gaal awarded Breno a rest, with Anatoliy Tymoshchuk deputising alongside Holger Badstuber at centre-half.
Once referee Markus Schmidt whistled proceedings underway on a chilly afternoon in Munich, the promoted visitors gave as good as they got in the early exchanges, refusing to let the champions settle, compressing the play in midfield, and putting in their tackles early.
Adam Nemec and Robben exchanged shots early on, before Bayern enjoyed a let-off on 11 minutes when Van Bommel hoofed Christian Tiffert’s shot off the line as the home side failed to clear their lines following a corner. Rodnei came close from a carbon-copy goalmouth scramble ten minutes later, but FCB raced up the other end and Robben fired narrowly wide.
Van Gaal’s men upped the tempo now, with Robben at the heart of almost all the good moves. The Dutch ace ghosted between two defenders but bundled a Danijel Pranjic cross wide of the post, before dribbling round four FCK men towards the six-yard box, where Rodnei timed his tackle well. The Brazilian centre-back again did well to thwart Gomez, and the striker had a decent shout for a penalty turned down after a clumsy challenge by Martin Amedick.
Visiting keeper Tobias Sippel was finally called into action four minutes from half-time, bravely blocking at Müller’s feet after the youngster charged through the middle, and home shot-stopper Thomas Kraft soon followed suit with a decent block from Ivo Ilicevic. The ensuing corner directly led to Bayern’s opening goal, Müller racing clear on the break and delivering a superb diagonal pass for Robben to ride former FCB man Alex Bugera’s tackle, round Sippel, and slot home.
The winger was clearly still on fire when he emerged from the dressing room after the restart, cutting inside from the flank and releasing Schweinsteiger down the inside-right channel, from where the midfielder squared and Gomez tapped home into the unguarded net.
The double strike clearly energised the men in red and the chances started to come. Schweinsteiger headed wide, Sippel pulled off an excellent save from Robben’s curler, and the Dutch ace just failed to get enough on a one-on-one with the keeper. Lautern twice tested Kraft through Amedick and Ilicevic, but Moravek’s snap shot past the FCB keeper after Tymoshchuk’s slip still came against the run of play.
There were few openings but a number of crunching tackles in the ensuing spell, before Hamit Altintop took over from Robben with 15 minutes to play. The Turkey international laid on Gomez’s points-sealing goal on 80 minutes, the ball finding its way to the FCB man via a Lautern defender and the striker thumping home into the corner of the net.
But there was more to come from the on-fire marksman, as he added the fourth with a cool finish five minutes from the end after a delicate Schweinsteiger pass. Florian Dick cleared off the line from Tymoshchuk in the final minute, but the last word went to Müller, the striker making it five with the last kick of the match after Altintop sailed past Amedick and centred.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
Bayern Munich - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5-1 (H-T: 1-0)
Bayern Munich: Kraft - Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Badstuber, Pranjic - Van Bommel, Luiz Gustavo (Breno 86) - Robben (Altintop 74), Schweinsteiger, Müller - Gomez
Substitutes: Butt, Braafheid, Van Buyten, Ottl, Klose
1. FC Kaiserslautern: Sippel - Dick, Amedick, Rodnei, Bugera - Petsos (Amri 66) - Kirch, Tiffert, Moravek (Hoffer 66), Ilicevic - Nemec
Referee: Mr. Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Spectators: 69,000 (capacity)
Goals: 1-0 Robben (45), 2-0 Gomez (46), 2-1 Moravek (62.), 3-1 Gomez (80), 4-1 Gomez (85), 5-1 Müller (90+1)
Yellow Cards: - / Kirch, Tiffert, Bugera
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
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