Bayern buildup, Hamburg pressing
In the first minutes, Bayern played aggressively with Philipp Lahm moving into a central midfield position. This allowed Thiago to press forward and join the attackers, while a temporary back three of Alaba, Badstuber and Boateng snuffed any fast breaks by Hamburg. Bayern attempted to create chances by feeding the ball to the Coman and Costa on the left and right wings, but Hamburg was quick to prevent them from crossing the ball inside, pressing Bayern aggressively and waiting for chances to strike on a fast break.
The first shot on goal would come from Hamburg in the 13th minute: Hamburg intercepted the ball and found Aaron Hunt. Hunt rushed toward Bayern's goal, but was forced to shoot from distance before he could be dispossessed. Neuer easily collected the ball.
Yellow cards galore
The match began to heat up, with the physical play ultimately resulting in several yellow cards for Hamburg, as their players became increasingly frustrated. First, Douglas Costa was deliberately taken down by Ostrzolek in the 20th minute after he threatened to blow past him with the ball. Hamburg would have a second chance at Bayern's goal shortly after: this time N. Müller found Diekmaier on a fast break after eluding Kingsley Coman, but Diekmaier shot while running at full speed and sent the ball wide past the far post. The next few minutes saw further efforts by Bayern to threaten Hamburg's goal. In the 32nd, Kinglsey Coman turned on the afterburners to make an attack, but Kacar cynically kicked him just above the knee, sending him to the ground. Kacar would see Hamburg's second yellow card. Fortunately, Coman was unhurt.
Hamburg concede a penalty
In the 37th minute, a long pass found Thomas Müller breaking away just onsides. As he entered Hamburg's penalty area, he lobbed the ball toward the goal over Adler. The ball went just wide, but Adler clipped Müller inside the penalty area as he dove. The referee called for a penalty, showing Adler a yellow card. The penalty was coolly taken by Robert Lewandowski: GOAL Bayern! Hamburg flirted with another penalty not long afterward, when Thomas Müller was clipped by a defender in the penalty area yet again, but this time the referee's whistle remained silent.
As the half closed, two more yellow cards were shown: first to N. Müller for a foul on Kingsley Coman, and then none other than Philipp Lahm would see a yellow card in the 44th minute for a supposed foul against Ilicevic. The instant replay showed that Lahm had actually played the ball.
The second half: a Hamburg goal!
Bayern took several shots in the opening minutes of the second half, but none found their way in. Then the momentum of the game dramatically shifted in the 53rd minute: Aaron Hunt took a free kick for Hamburg, attempting to find Lasogga in front of Bayern's goal with Alonso next to him. First, it appeared that Lasogga managed to get a foot on the ball, beating out Neuer for the equalizer, but then the goal was ruled an own-goal by Alonso. Finally, it was ruled a direct goal by Hunt, since it appeared that neither Lasogga nor Alonso touched the ball.
Boateng injured, Bayern regains the lead
Just three minutes after Hamburg's goal, Jerome Boateng injured himself while clearing the ball in a one-on-one, leaving the field with an adductor injury. He was replaced by Javi Martinez. After a few frantic minutes, Bayern recollected itself and resumed the attack. The ball soon found its way back into Hamburg's net: Thomas Müller at the edge of the penalty area took a wide shot, but Robert Lewandowski managed to put the perfect touch on it to direct it right into Hamburg's open goal. Hamburg's players stood stunned: they all expected Lewandowski to be called offsides, but no call came. In the replay, he could be seen onsides just behind Hamburg's defender as Müller kicked the ball: Bayern leads 2-1!
To the bitter end
Bayern and Hamburg continued to trade blows. In the 66th minute, David Alaba blasted a free kick for Bayern from distance into the right goal post, inches away from what would have been 3-1. Lewandowski, Costa, and Thiago all attempted shots. Arjen Robben came on for Douglas Costa in the 81st minute, but failed to make much of an impact on the game. Alonso was finally shown the yellow card for a tackle just after Robben came on, conceding a dangerous free kick to Hamburg. Fortunately, the kick twice bounced harmlessly off Bayern's wall.
Bayern had yet another injury scare in the 88th minute, when Coman went to the ground and had to be treated briefly. Fortunately, he was able to continue to play in what was an absolutely outstanding game for him. Hamburg pressed ruthlessly as the game wound down, desperately looking for an equalizer to leave the match with a point, but their last chance, a dangerous free kick taken by Gregoritsch, flew just to the right of Bayern's goal. Neuer would have caught it anyway.
Match Details
Hamburg 1 - 2 Bayern Munich
FCB: Lewandowski (37, 61)
Hamburg: Hunt (53) [first called as an own-goal by Alonso]
Hamburg XI: Adler - Diekmeier, Djourou, Cleber, Ostrzolek - Holtby, Kacar (81 Jung) - Hunt, N. Müller, Ilicevic (69 Gregoritsch) - Lasogga (77 Rudnevs)
FCB XI: Neuer - Alaba, Badstuber, Boateng (56 Javi Martinez), Lahm - Thiago, Alonso - Coman, Müller (69 Vidal), Costa (81 Robben) - Lewandowski
Instant Analysis
- Kingsley Coman again showed that he is an elite player in the making: he played a fantastic game, constantly threatening Hamburg's determined defense.
- The loss of Jerome Boateng to injury is a devastating blow, even with an outstanding backup in the person of Javi Martinez.
- Bayern kept Hamburg to 33% possession, allowing only 7 shots and taking 20. It is no surprise that Bayern -- and especially team CoCo -- totally outdribbled Hamburg: winning 16 dribbles to Hamburg's 3!
- Bayern's win today puts them 11 points ahead of second-place Dortmund, who play against Gladbach tomorrow.