A two and a half week break must have been good for the reserves.
Bayern Munich II beat 1. FC Nürnberg II 3-1 on Sunday, bouncing back from their Munich derby defeat to get back on track. The victory increases their point total to 54 points with two games in hand on second place FV Illertissen.
Kevin Friesenbichler, starting just his third game with the reserves, opened the scoring for FC Bayern II in the 11th minute with a flat shot from a half-left position. Philipp Klement equalized quickly with a shot outside the box to beat Lukas Raeder.
Alessandro Schöpf then put the game away, first with interplay with Friesenbichler allowing to put the reserves ahead in the 24th minute and capitalizing on a Nürnberg II mistake in the 53rd minute.
With three games over nine days to end the 2013 part of the Regionalliga season, manager Erik ten Hag elected to change up the standard XI a bit. Dennis Chessa and Vladimir Rankovic, who have 18 and 20 starts respectively, started the match on the bench. Mitchell Weiser, in his first game back with the reserves in nearly a month, got the start on the right wing, while Ylli Sallahi made just his second start for the reserves.
FC Bayern II will face two more reserve sides before the winter recess, SpVgg Greuther Fürth II on Friday and FC Augsburg II the following Tuesday. Many of these players will be pushing for an invitation to train with the senior side over the break.
More from Bavarian Football Works:
Follow @BavarianFBWorks Follow @SBNationSoccer
- Mario Götze's Momentous Return to Dortmund; Scripted and Sensational
- Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund: Die Roten win der Klassiker 3-0 at the Westfalenstadion
- Bayern Munich 3 - 0 Borussia Dortmund | Instant Analysis
- Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund | Gamethread
- Rafinha talks to Bavarian Football Works about Borussia Dortmund, Pep Guardiola, and Brazil 2014