Bayern were without Alphonso Davies [out with an ankle injury until January], Niklas Süle [one COVID-positive test], and Benjamin Pavard [muscle injury in training]. Dortmund defender Mats Hummels [hamstring] was a game-time decision, but he got the start.
Bayern came storming out the game immediately. Robert Lewandowski nearly got on the board in the first minute, but his shot from the left side while inside the penalty area went wide left. Dortmund’s attack showed much promise. Bayern likes to play a high line, but they are vulnerable to the counterattack. Dortmund showed they could exploit this but couldn’t quite finish. Jadon Sancho and Gio Reyna showed they could stretch Bayern’s defense, and Erling Haaland is always dangerous in the middle. That big Norwegian kid is good! At the 14th minute, only a great save from Dortmund goalie Roman Bürki from a Leon Goretzka header off a corner kick kept the game tied at 0-0. Seven minutes later Gio Reyna and Haaland found themselves on the counter, the Haaland was one-on-one against Bayern goalie Manuel Neuer. Neuer made himself big enough to force Haaland’s shot on goal to just barely go wide-right. It was a fantastic counterattack from Dortmund, exactly the kind of play that anyone needs to keep level with Bayern, but Neuer made the difference.
At the 24th minute, it looked as if Bayern got on the board first. After stopping Dortmund deep in Bayern territory, Jérôme Boateng mad a superb long outlet pass to Kingsley Coman, who passed to Serge Gnabry, who took it to the Dortmund penalty area. He mad a cross from the left and found a streaking Lewandowski coming down the middle. Lewandowski put the ball in Dortmund’s net, but the Video Assisted Referee [VAR] had Lewandowski offside by mere inches. It was an extremely tight call. No goal – game still tied at 0-0.
At thirty-five minutes, Joshua Kimmich injured his right knee in a collision with Erling Haaland. Kimmich received a yellow card on the play, as he injured himself while fouling Haaland, who recovered and broke away with the ball. The big Norwegian was too big for Kimmich, who had to be helped off the field with a knee injury. He was replaced immediately by French teammate Corentin Tolisso. Kimmich had been the hero the last two times Bayern squared off against Dortmund, scoring the winning goals in both contests. With Kimmich gone, someone else had to be Bayern’s hero. Kimmich’ departure did have a consequence.
Dortmund opened the scoring “on the cusp of halftime” [thank you, Derek Rae] when longtime BVB man Marco Reus fired high and hard into the top corner after being picked out by a Raphael Guerreiro pull-back in the middle of the box. Kimmich had shut down Reus for the better part of the first half. After he left, Reus scored. This was Reus’s eighth goal against Bayern, leading all active Bundesliga players in that regard. Dortmund’s lead was short-lived. Bayern didn’t have to chase the game for long. Three minutes of stoppage time [due to the Kimmich injury] were added onto the first half. Bayern hit back with just seconds remaining in the half from a well-worked set piece from the top of the box. After a few quick touches to change the launching point, David Alaba fired a missile past the wall and Roman Bürki to tie the game. AlaBOOM indeed. That had to be a big boost for Bayern going into halftime. Alaba’s goal was a MASSIVE answer to Reus’s goal. Here’s a little bit of trivia – Alaba’s goal was the 100th scored by Bayern since Hansi Flick took over as coach a year ago.
Having given up their lead so shortly before halftime, one had to wonder where Dortmund’s collective head was. Would they bounce back early in the second half, or would Bayern show their killer instinct that has served them well these past twelve months? We had our answer shortly after the second-half kickoff. Bayern took the lead almost immediately after the restart thanks to a poacher's goal from Robert Lewandowski -- the Poland international cutting in front of his marker and heading expertly into the net from a Lucas Hernandez cross on the left in the 48th minute. Hernandez had a nightmarish first season with Bayern last year, but this season he has shown top form. He’s getting assists [not bad for a defender] and scored his first goal for Bayern last week in the Champion’s League game against RB Salzburg. Kingsley Coman nearly made it 3-1 three minutes later, but his shot hit the woodwork.
Both sides made key substitutions. After Bayern took the lead, Dortmund subbed Jude Bellingham for Thomas Delaney. Bayern subbed on Leroy Sané and Javi Martinez for Kingsley Coman and Jérôme Boateng, respectively. Bellingham breathed new life into Dortmund’s attack. Accordingly, Manuel Neuer had to earn his pay – he was no spectator today. Bayern went two goals ahead with around 10 minutes remaining with a ruthless counter-attack from a dispossession deep in their own half. Leroy Sané fired hard and low into the far corner after cutting inside on his left foot – shades of Arjen Robben. Bayern showed they could flip a game on its head in the blink of an eye. Leon Goretzka forced a Dortmund turnover deep in Bayern’s end, and two passes later Sané had his goal. Dortmund immediately struck back through Erling Haaland, who settled a lobbed Guerreiro through ball to beat the offside trap, rounded Manuel Neuer and slotted home into an empty net. Lewandowski looked to have given Bayern a fourth goal in stoppage time with a first-time lob in the area, but VAR raised its head again and denied the goal.
The win gives Bayern a two-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga [RB Leipzig in second], while Dortmund settled in third, three points behind after seven games played.
PS. After the game, Gio Reyna and Erling Haaland were asked about the difference in the game. Without hesitation, Haaland said he had to do better with the chances he was provided. This kid is only 20, but he's holding himself accountable. The more I see him, the more I like him.
