VfL Wolfsburg 0 v Bayern Munich 1
Stoppage-time strike seals first win of term
13.08.2011
Bayern left it until the dying seconds on Saturday afternoon, but Luiz Gustavo’s last-minute strike meant FCB collected an ultimately deserved first three points of the new Bundesliga campaign against stubborn Wolfsburg.
The 30,000 capacity crowd at the VW Arena saw a blistering start, a lull in the play, and then a thrilling run-in to the break, with the best of the sparse chances falling to the visitors from Munich. With Jupp Heynckes’ men comfortably on top after half-time, Takashi Usami came on for his German top flight debut 20 minutes from the end, but it looked as though it would be an afternoon of frustration for the visitors until Franck Ribery teed up Gustavo for the all-important winner.
The hard-earned first win of the season sees FCB go 11th in the embryonic table with three points from their two matches. The Bavarians are next in action on Wednesday in the Champions League qualifying play-off first leg against FC Zürich, followed by the third Bundesliga fixture of the new season against Hamburg next Saturday afternoon.
With Arjen Robben out of action for a day or two after tweaking his back in training, FCB boss Heynckes made one change to the team beaten at home by Mönchengladbach last weekend, Franck Ribery coming in on the left wing, and Thomas Müller switching to the right.
Otherwise it was as-you-were, with Manuel Neuer in goal, Rafinha, Jerome Boateng Holger Badstuber and captain Philipp Lahm in defence, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Luiz Gustavo in defensive midfield, and Toni Kroos in the hole behind Mario Gomez.
Ex-Bayern boss Felix Magath saw no reason to change a side which opened with a 3-0 win away to Köln, so nine-year FCB stalwart Hasan Salihamidzic lined up against his former team-mates for the first time since leaving Munich four years ago.
After referee Knut Kircher whistled play underway on a pleasant summer afternoon in Lower Saxony, the match set off at a cracking pace with Kroos shanking the first chance wide on five minutes, and Ribery thwarted only by desperate lunges from Simon Kjaer and Marco Russ on the quarter-hour.
Kroos fired narrowly past the near post as the visitors eased into the driving seat midway through the half, but for all Munich’s domination of the ball, chances were hard to come by as the Wolves set out their defensive stall.
Ribery brilliantly stole possession from Makoto Hasebe on the edge of the home box but put too much weight on his cross, although there was a scare for the visitors five minutes from the break when a Patrick Helmes strike was chalked off for offside, wrongly as TV replays later suggested.
The action hotted up before the interval with Kroos having a shout for a penalty and Wolves keeper Diego Benaglio fumbling a Badstuber corner and then blocking from Gomez, and Neuer racing from his box to head clear a dangerous through ball. The excitement continued after the restart, Schweinsteiger smacking the first opening into the crowd, and Neuer expertly plucking an up-and-under from the air.
Josué just threw out a leg to halt a mazy Schweinsteiger burst, Helmes spooned a shot over Neuer’s goal, and Kroos hooked arguably the best chance of the day so far wide of the post following a lovely combination between Ribery and Schweinsteiger. Müller did just enough to prevent Helmes directing a back-stick header on target, before Bayern’s Germany striker gave way to Usami for the last 20 minutes.
Gustavo bravely hurled his body in the way to block a dangerous Hasebe effort and Rafinha snuffed out sub Koo’s attempted shot, but Heynckes’ men still had the upper hand and swarmed around Benaglio’s box in the closing stages. The Wolves keeper clutched Usami’s flick and Neuer got down safely to Christian Träsch’s grubber, before Ivica Olic replaced Kroos for the last five minutes.
A goalless draw seemed the most likely result as the game entered stoppage time, but Olic and Ribery’s superb build-up gave Gustavo the chance to seize the victory with a 16-yard shot Benaglio could only help into the net, sparking dramatic scenes of joy in the Bayern camp.
Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley
MATCH STATS
VfL Wolfsburg - FC Bayern 0-1 (H-T: 0-0)
VfL Wolfsburg: Benaglio - Hasebe, Kjær, Russ, Schäfer - Träsch, Josué - Ochs (Dejagah 46), Salihamidzic (Koo 69) - Helmes (Lakic 88), Mandzukic
FC Bayern: Neuer - Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber, Lahm - Schweinsteiger, Luiz Gustavo - Müller (Usami 69 / Van Buyten 90+2), Kroos (Olic 86), Ribéry - Gomez
Substitutes: Butt, Tymoshchuk, Alaba, Pranjic
Referee: Knut Kircher (Rottenburg)
Spectators: 30,000 (capacity)
Goals: 0-1 Luiz Gustavo (90+1)
Yellow Cards: - / Kroos, Lahm, Rafinha
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
No comments:
Post a Comment