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Bayern Munich v 1899 Hoffenheim 4-0

Robben magic inspires emphatic home win

Bayern cemented their position as the best home team in the Bundesliga with a comprehensive and fully merited victory over toothless Hoffenheim on Saturday, as the men from Munich made it three goals or more for the seventh home game in a row.

The 69,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw Mario Gomez and Thomas Müller hand the champions a two-goal lead before the quarter-hour was up, and although the visitors made a game of it after that, the home side were comfortably superior in every area of the field up to half-time.

Arjen Robben added a glorious third on the hour to banish any lingering doubts about the destination of the points, and the Dutch superstar topped that ten minutes from the end with a sublime curler whipped into the top corner, sealing a thoroughly comfortable margin of victory for the champions.

The win means Louis van Gaal’s men climb to third in the standings overnight on 39 points from 22 matches, still 12 points off leaders Dortmund and three behind Leverkusen in second. The Bavarians are on the road again in their next fixture, and revenge is in the air next Saturday when the Bavarians travel to Mainz, the only club to win in Munich this term.

With Franck Ribery and Robben available to play together for the first time this season, Van Gaal restored the wing pair to the starting line-up, omitting Andi Ottl and Hamit Altintop from the side beaten by Köln last week.

Mid-season signing Luiz Gustavo enjoyed an early reunion with his former Hoffenheim team-mates, with Bastian Schweinsteiger stepping back from the playmaking role to partner Danijel Pranjic in defensive midfield, and Müller in behind Gomez up front. Visiting boss Marco Pezzaiuoli fielded winter loan capture David Alaba against the club where he is contracted until 2013.

Not 120 seconds after referee Peter Gagelmann whistled the match underway, Müller took advantage of Isaac Vorsah’s slip and released Robben in space on the right. Gomez timed his run behind the defence to perfection and slipped the Dutchman’s short cross over the line from six yards to hand his side a second-minute lead.

Munich breezed forward after that and doubled the lead on the quarter-hour. Vorsah deflected Müller’s pass into Ribery’s path, and although Hoffenheim keeper Tom Starke blocked, the France star chased down the loose ball and found Müller. The Germany starlet danced round Alaba on the left edge of the box before catching Starke wrong-footed with a low shot in at the near post.

FCB chose to sit on the lead for a spell, and Sejad Salihovic cracked the visitors’ first shot over the bar with 20 minutes played. Fellow Bosnia hitman Vedad Ibisevic flicked a back-header just wide of the far stick from a . Salihovic set-play, before Luiz Gustavo was called into action to hustle the ball off Ibisevic in the FCB box.

Salihovic forced Thomas Kraft into a first save of the afternoon, but FCB never looked in any real danger and upped the ante in the period leading up to the break. Vorsah and Starke crowded out Müller as the striker hared to the by-line, before Schweinsteiger drew a magnificent reaction save from Starke with a volley from Robben’s beautifully flighted free-kick.

The first incident after the restart was controversial, as Hoffenheim sub Josip Simunic felled Robben with a flailing arm but only saw a yellow card, despite the blood streaming from the winger’s nose. Starke then denied Müller, Schweinsteiger and Ribery in short order as Munich pressed, and the third goal duly followed with 63 minutes played.

It was a beauty too: Alaba lost possession to Philipp Lahm, who immediately passed to Robben in the inside-right position, 30 yards from goal. The Dutch ace set off on a trademark dribble, leaving five defenders slithering in his wake and delaying his shot to perfection, again wrong-footing the luckless Starke with an angled left-foot finish.

The visiting keeper blocked Gomez’ lob from the very next move, but the result was no longer in any doubt and the pace dropped considerably. Robben drew cheers from the crowd with an exhibition dribble or two, but it was not merely for the gallery, as the superstar netted the fourth with a stunning whipped curler from the edge of the box nine minutes from time.

The stadium rose to hail Robben as the man of the match gave way to Altintop for the last few minutes, and Kraft finally had a chance to demonstrate his ability with a diving save from the otherwise anonymous Ryan Babel as Van Gaal’s men coasted to the close.

Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley

MATCH STATS

Bayern Munich - TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 4-0 (H-T: 2-0)

Bayern Munich: Kraft - Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Badstuber, Gustavo - Pranjic, Schweinsteiger - Robben (84 Altintop), Mueller, Ribéry - Gomez

Substitutes: Butt, Van Buyten, Breno, Ottl, Klose

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim: Starke - Beck, Vorsah (46 Simunic), Compper, Ibertsberger - Rudy (20 Weis), Alaba, Salihovic - Babel, Ibisevic, Vukcevic (77 Sigurdsson)

Referee: Peter Gagelmann (Bremen)

Spectators: 69,000 (capacity)

Goals: 1-0 Gomez (2), 2-0 Mueller (15), 3-0 Robben (63), 4-0 Robben (81)

Yellow Cards: - / Weis, Simunic, Beck, Salihovic

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