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Fcbayern - Bayern set a new
Bundesliga record with 28 wins from 34 matches in 2005 but were pushed all
the way in a typically tempestuous clash with Dortmund.
The 81,000 who braved the biting cold and snow flurries to generate a
cacophony of noise at the newly-named Signal Iduna Park saw Bayern ride
their luck in an entertaining first period.
Lucio should have opened the scoring with a gilt-edged chance on 27 minutes,
but the energetic home side had one effort scrambled off the line and hit
the post on the stroke of half-time.
The Reds roused themselves after the restart and Ali Karimi netted a 53rd
minute opener, before Claudio Pizarro initiated and finished off a flowing
mood to double the advantage on 73 minutes.
Florian Kringe set up a grandstand finish by pulling one back for the plucky
home side with 11 minutes remaining, but Borussia finished with ten men
after sub Kosi Saka saw a late red card as the champions held on for a truly
hard-earned three points.
With Sebastian Deisler serving the second match of a three-game ban and
Michael Ballack suspended after collecting a fifth booking, the Bayern side
showed one enforced change to last Sunday's narrow victory over
Kaiserslautern, Owen Hargreaves taking up station on the right side of
midfield with Karimi in the playmaking role.
The second newcomer to the starting line-up was Bixente Lizarazu, restored
to the left-back berth with Philipp Lahm beginning on the bench.
On paper, the home side's youngsters, many of them fresh out of the youth
ranks, should have been no match for the visitors' vast reserves of
experience, but the swirling wind and charged atmosphere proved a great
leveller in the opening exchanges.
Hargreaves and Roy Makaay loosed off warning shots early doors, but Borussia
had the first clear-cut opening when youth international David Odonkor
forced Oliver Kahn into a sharp save, the keeper making himself big to deny
Poland marksman Ebi Smolarek from the rebound.
Kahn again saved well from a Delron Buckley header, but the Reds upped the
tempo midway through the half and Claudio Pizarro unleashed a wicked curler
just over home keeper Roman Weidenfeller's crossbar.
The champions should have taken a 27th minute lead when Lucio embarked on a
trademark burst into the box, but the Brazilian slid the ball past the
upright with Weidenfeller stranded.
The leaders were forced to reshuffle when Martin Demichelis hobbled off
after 37 minutes, young Andreas Ottl taking over from the Argentine in the
holding role.
The increasingly muscular home side produced a stirring finish to the half
and Bayern were a trifle fortunate to survive until the break, but
Hargreaves and the bar combined to hack Smolarek's header off the line,
before Kringe's close-range shot rebounded from the upright with Kahn
beaten.
Munich resisted Borussia's energetic start to the second period and took the
lead on 53 minutes. Ottl slid a perceptive pass into the box for Pizarro to
lay into Karimi's path. The Iran star shimmied, steadied himself and
toe-poked past Weidenfeller for his second Bundeasliga goal.
Bastian Schweinsteiger replaced Hargreaves ten minutes later as the Reds
sought to relieve a spell of unremitting Dortmund pressure, and the switch
paid off as the home side finally began to run out of steam.
The leaders appeared to move into the comfort zone after 73 minutes when
Pizarro crowned a battling display with a neat finish from Zé Roberto's
elegant build-up, but there was a twist in the plot when Kringe rose to nod
home from a 79th minute free-kick and reduce the arrears.
Jens Jeremies replaced Karimi on 87 minutes as the visitors looked to shore
up the fragile lead, and sub Kosi Saka's dismissal for a late professional
foul on Makaay ultimately failed to have any bearing on the result.
Reporting from Signal Iduna Park for fcbayern.de: Chris Hamley
Borussia Dortmund - Bayern Munich 1-2 (H-T: 0-0)
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Degen, Hünemeier, Metzelder, Kringe -
Kruska, Kehl, Sahin - Odonkor (Saka 86), Smolarek, Buckley (Gambino 65)
Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Ismael, Lucio, Lizarazu - Hargreaves (Schweinsteiger
63), Demichelis (Ottl 38), Karimi (Jeremies 88), Zé Roberto - Makaay,
Pizarro
Substitutes: Rensing, Lahm, Guerrero
Referee: Mr Fandel (Kyllburg)
Spectators: 81,000 (capacity)
Goals: 0-1 Karimi (52), 0-2 Pizarro (73), 1-2 Kringe (79)
Yellow Cards: Gambino / Ottl, Zé Roberto
Red Cards: Saka (89)
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