Sportinglife - It may be a season Bayern
Munich cannot wait to see the back of, but the out-going German champions
put on a show with a 5-2 win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena.
Roque Santa Cruz netted the first in the 30th minute with the retiring
Mehmet Scholl (33) and Mark van Bommel (37) giving the home side a 3-0
advantage at the break.
Chadli Amri closed the gap 10 minutes into the second half, but Ali Karimi
restored the three-goal advantage soon after.
Claudio Pizarro made it five in the 74th minute and Markus Feulner replied
again for Mainz two minutes later to complete the final 5-2 scoreline.
Roy Makaay tried a lob at goal from in the first opening of the game after
21 minutes but failed to hit the target.
Milorad Pekovic then had the chance to put the visitors in front.
From one of many enterprising runs forward by Amri, Pekovic beat the offside
trap to reach his through-ball and, faced with Bayern goalkeeper Bernd
Dreher, making his one and only appearance of the season, he fired just
wide.
Santa Cruz nodded in Hasan Salihamdizic's right wing cross to put the home
side in front on the half-hour mark.
The stage was then set for Scholl to add a second on his final professional
game.
He showed some of his class to make room on the edge of the penalty area and
drive a low shot for his 87th goal in 334 games for Bayern.
Van Bommel completed a crazy seven-minute spell with the third goal, rolling
the ball through Christian Wetklo's legs after being found by Dutch
compatriot Makaay.
Amri scored the goal his play had deserved in the 55th minute, powering a
header past Dreher from close range after meeting Feulner's cross.
Karimi became the fifth player to put his name on the scoresheet, marking
his final game for Bayern with a coolly taken goal from Philipp Lahm's
cross.
Pizarro, another Bayern player leaving at the end of this season, sealed the
win with a comfortably taken goal from inside the penalty area.
There was even time for ex-Bayern midfielder Feulner to score another
consolation, tapping in at the far post after Mainz man-of-the-match Amri
provided the cross.
