December 05, (THEWILL) – Bayern Munich rallied from behind to beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash on Saturday evening that was nearly ruined by poor officiating.
The hosts had a dream start to Der Klassiker, upsetting an especially wary Bayern.
In the first five minutes, Julian Brandt broke the deadlock, collecting Jude Bellingham’s elegantly floated pass inside the penalty area, spinning past Alphonso Davies, and shooting into the top corner.
The goal only served to energise Bayern, who equalised after a frantic first ten minutes.
Robert Lewandowski took advantage of his teammate’s holding off of Dortmund’s centre back and rushed onto the scene, calmly regaining control before clinically slotting in the equaliser against his former club.
Both teams had scored with their first two shots on goal, but the number of chances created to add to that scoreline dropped after that.
Dortmund employed a strategy of effectively bypassing the midfield immediately they regained possession. They endeavoured to send Erling Haaland rushing towards a ball over the top of Bayern’s backline, which was frequently manned by only the two centre backs starting precariously high.
Bayern, who themselves offered a threat on the counter, steadily maintained a stranglehold on proceedings with increasing possession sequences.
Kingsley Coman’s goal on the stroke of half-time came from a couple pieces of luck, as Raphael Guerreiro’s hasty clearance cannoned off Hummels and into the path of the Frenchman, who sent Bayern ahead via another deflection.
Dortmund took advantage of the halftime, which interrupted Bayern’s rhythm, and began the second half in the same manner as the first. Dayot Upamecano tamely nodded Thomas Meunier’s cross to Bellingham as they worked their way around Alphonso Davies down the right flank.
Within three minutes of the restart, the English talent slid a pass to Haaland, who twisted a magnificent right-footed strike against the post to bring Dortmund level.
After the half, Marco Rose’s side swung the game back in their favour, reigniting the pandemonium Bayern had desperately fought to contain.
However, it was a classic slice of ‘Bayern-dusel’ – Bayern-luck – that put the Bavarians ahead in the 77th minute, much against the flow of play and in front of the diminished crowd.
Hummels once again played a pivotal part, ducking to head away a corner that collided with his arm, unseen in real time. Bayern was granted a dubious penalty following a VAR review, which was made all the more galling by the fact that Marco Reus had been denied a chance from 12 yards earlier in the first half.
As usual, Lewandowski was perfect, scoring the game-winning goal to give Bayern their seventh consecutive victory in this match.
Bayern now lead the standings by four points and have now won their last three games in all competitions. Meanwhile, Dortmund missed out on a chance to overtake their opponents but remain in second place.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
