Stuttgart 1-3 Bayern Munich
Bundesliga, matchday 9
28/11/20
Bayern Munich came from behind and then survived a late scare to take all three points against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.
Bayern fell behind to a Tanguy Coulibaly strike midway through the first half but equalised through Kingsley Coman then Robert Lewandowski scored a sensational 25 yard strike to put the Bavarian giants ahead just before half-time.
Bayern survived a late onslaught by Stuttgart and broke away for substitute Douglas Costa to get the third on eighty-eight minutes and assure victory.
Boss Hansi Flick wanted a response after seeing his side draw their last Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen the previous weekend.
The win is that much more significant with title rivals Dortmund succumbing to a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Cologne.
Further articles
-Muller delights in life under Hansi after being left in the cold by Kovac: interview with Bundesliga
-Haaland is taught a lesson by Lewandowski in first Klassiker of the season: Match Report
-He divided opinion: see the array of tributes to the late great Diego Maradona
1st half – Dare to doubt Bayern as they come from behind to lead
There were as many conundrums coming into matchday nine between Stuttgart and Bayern as there were in the personality of footballing icon Diego Maradona.
Two giants of the German game – Stuttgart the fifth biggest club (Bayern first) – Bayern were lucky to draw their last game against Bremen while Stuttgart are unbeaten in seven, although the last time die Schwaben beat Bayern at home was thirteen years ago back in 2007, and Bayern have a record of forty-one wins, two draws and one loss against promoted sides in the last ten years. That solitary loss? Against Stuttgart.
All these contextual puzzles could have been put to bed had Lewandowski powered Kingsley Coman’s cross into the net rather than onto Gregor Kobel’s post on three minutes.
A game of cat and mouse ensued, Bayern bursting forward with the overbearing power of German mastery, but holes were being left at the back which Stuggart were more than willing to exploit.
Under American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, Bundesliga estimates Stuttgart are the most ‘attack-minded’ promoted side in the league in eight years having already scored sixteen goals.
They chalked up number seventeen and a surprising lead on nineteen minutes against a side looking to amass the joint most amount of Bundesliga victories against any club in its history.
Silas Wamangituka’s cross was inch perfect as the ball skimmed off the turf past Boateng and just beyond the fingertips of the sprawling Neuer for Tanguy Coulibaly to fire into an empty net.
Dare we underestimate them, however (only whisper it) Bayern looked a little jaded in the cavernous walls of the Mercedex-Benz Arena and the Reds were lucky not to be at least two behind.
Phillipp Forster seemed the man chosen by fate to fill the boots of missing forward Nicolas Gonzalez. The German had two guilt edge chances within a minute of each other.
On thirty five minutes Forster curled his first time shot just wide of Neuer’s post from eight yards then on thirty-six minutes Neuer thwarted the midfielder one-on-one.
You’d think Serge Gnabry would show a little more gratitude than he did to the side he learnt his trade at, being in the Stuttgart youth set up for six years.
It was the former Arsenal forward’s no look pass round the corner that set away Muller to lay on Coman for the equaliser on thirty-eight minutes, then, four minutes later, the winger had his shot saved by Kobel after a scampering run at the Stuttgart defence.
Lewandowski took the game to the next level with a superb first time strike from twenty yards that swerved into the corner of Kobel’s net to put Bayern 2-1 up at the break.
Pressure on Favre as Dortmund disappoint again
BVB 1 (Hazard 74′) v 2 Cologne (Skhiri 9′, 60′)
The Reporter has suggested for a while that not everything is right at Dortmund. The BlackYellows lost 2-1 at home to Cologne to drop four points behind Bayern having already used their home advantage against the Bevarians in the championship. Eyebrows may start to rise as BVB have a squad capable of mounting a serious challenge to wrestle the title away from Bayern. However BVB have stuttered, suffering a surprise loss to relegation strugglers Augsburg in the second game of the season, losing at home to Bayern and now succumbing to Cologne. There can be no excuse for Favre with the talent of Sancho, Reyna, Hummels, Can, et al in the squad, as well as arguably Europe’s top striker to Lewandowski in Braut Erling Haaland. Dortmund need to find what’s wrong fast before they lose Bayern in the distance, the Bavarians taking with them Meisterschale number nine on the spin.
2nd half – Bayern hang on and land sucker punch
As is the behaviour of what seems to be the perennial attention-seeker, Lewandowski started to steal the show in the second half.
He looked in utter amazement at himself that his goal scoring genes, so heavily ingrained, could get a header so wrong three minutes into the half. Then there was the half-volley pass to Muller that was sublime and the pass that slammed off referee Harm Osmars’ head which was not so good.
As the half wore on Bayern seemed to be lulling themselves into the assurance they had done enough to take all three points, but signs suggested otherwise.
One of FCB’s best defensive performers this season in Lucas Hernandez had to be replaced by Sule with half an hour still to play
On seventy-three minutes, Stuttgart had two chances to equalise. Wamangituka was too hot for Alaba and managed to lay the ball to Mangala whose shot deflected off Sule and just wide then thirty seconds later a cross rolled across the Bayern six yard line that if Coulibaly had done a little more to anticipate Stuttgart would have equalised.
Bayern were doing the rope-a-dope with five minutes to go as Stuttgart laid siege on Manual Neuer, but the Bavarians managed to find a break and score as Costa netted with two minutes to go to put the result beyond doubt.
Man of the match: Robert Lewandowski
His goal was superb, his pass to Muller in the second half sublime and his hunger to succeed was clear when he reacted with fury after being adjudged to have fouled in the Stuttgart box trying to feed his insatiable appetite for goals. Stats of a Ballon d’Or winner; that’s Lewan’s twelfth in nine in the league, fifteenth of the season, but more indicative than both those figures, the Polish striker is now two away from scoring his 250th Bundesliga goal for the club.
VfB Stuttgrat, 4-5-1: Kobel, Mavropanos (->59′), Anton, Kempf, Castro (C) (->59′), Coulibaly, Endo, Forster (->77′), Mangala, Sosa, Wamangituka
Subs: Kalajdzic (->77′), Stenzel, Karazor (->59′), Klement, Egloff, Massimo, Klimowicz (->59′), Bredlow, Kaminski
Bayern Munich, 4-2-3-1: Neuer (C), Boateng (->69′), Alaba, Goretzka, Hernandez (->58′), Coman (->69′), Muller, Lewandowski, Pavard, Gnabry (->69′), Tolisso
Subs: Nubel, Sule (->58′), Martinez, Sane (->69′), Costa (->69′), Choupo-Moting, Roca, Nianzou (->69′), Musiala
Goals: Coulibaly 19’, Coman 38’, Lewandowski 45’, Costa 88’
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