5
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund initially met back in August in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, with Vincent Kompany’s side coming out on top, but after seven games in the Bundesliga this season, they find themselves neck and neck in terms of points at the top of the Bundesliga table.
Obviously, the main talking point heading into this game was Harry Kane. Last Monday, the Englishman became the first Bayern player in over 40 years to win the Ballon d’Or, and he was subsequently called Mr Ballon d’Or by the stadium speaker at the Allianz Arena.
The first major chance of the game fell to Michael Olise, whose effort rattled the crossbar. A few minutes later, Ismael Saibari beat the offside trap but was denied by Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel between the sticks. From the subsequent challenge, Saibari sustained an injury and was replaced by Nathaniel Brown.
Then, against the run of play, Dortmund struck through Jobe Bellingham, but the goal was ruled out for a foul by Carney Chukwuemeka on Bayern keeper Jonas Urbig. The nature of teams when they play Bayern was then on full show when, minutes after the goal had been ruled out for the foul, Bayern went down the other end, and after an initial save from Kobel, Konrad Laimer scored the rebound to make it 1-0.
Just before the break, Maximilian Beier had a good chance to equalise for Dortmund, but dragged his shot wide.
After the break, Bayern won a penalty for a handball, and giving the ‘best player in the world’ Kane the chance to have his moment following his win, and considering his penalty record, you would think he would likely score. However, on this rare occasion, the Englishman hit the crossbar.
Then minutes later, Serhou Guirassy equalised for Dortmund when he latched onto a pass from Chukwuemeka, and his near-post shot beat Urbig.
Kane then redeemed himself for his earlier missed penalty when a recycled corner was played into the box, with the Englishman heading it into the path of Dayot Upamecano, who made it 2-1.
Bayern had a chance to make it 3-1 when Kane again hit the woodwork from near point-blank range.
Just like in midweek, Dortmund needed a late goal, and it arrived via substitute Fabio Silva, whose shot went through a crowd of bodies to beat Urbig and make it 2-2.
Bayern will probably feel hard done by that they did not come away with the three points, but this was one of the rare occasions where Dortmund’s style of play under Niko Kovac actually worked, as they were able to absorb the pressure from the Bundesliga leaders and then they got their opportunity right at the end of the game, and they took it.
The result means both teams remain level on points at the top of the table, but Bayern remain in first due to their superior goal difference.
What this means for the Bundesliga as a whole is that the entirety of the league is a lot closer than we first thought.
Bayern Munich 2-2 Borussia Dortmund Player Ratings
Bayern Munich: Jonas Urbig (5), Konrad Laimer (7), Dayot Upamecano (6), Kim Min-Jae (6), Alphonso Davies (6), Joshua Kimmich (5), Aleksander Pavlovic (5), Michael Olise (5), Ismael Saibari (-), Serge Gnabry (-), Harry Kane (5)
Others: Nathanial Brown (5), Josip Stanisic (5), Lennart Karl (-)
Borussia Dortmund: Gregor Kobel (6), Joane Gadou (6), Waldemar Anton (5), Nico Schlotterbeck (6), Maximilian Beier (5), Joey Veerman (5), Felix Nmecha (5), Daniel Svensson (5), Jobe Bellingham (6), Carney Chukwuemeka (6), Serhou Guirassy (6)
Others: Konstantinos Karetsas (5), Marcel Sabitzer (5), Fabio Silva (5), Samuele Inacio (-), Julian Ryerson (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Konrad Laimer (7)
Back in the starting 11 at right-back, the 29-year-old was active on both ends of the pitch and even opened the scoring in this game too. At some points in this game, Laimer was even Bayern’s best attacking player and caused several issues for Daniel Svensson throughout the evening.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
