Bayern Munich vs Anderlecht Recap

Bayern Munich knew they had to react quickly after losing 2-0 to Hoffenheim Saturday. Even though Bayern dominated every offensive category and ended up winning 3-0 over Anderlecht in UEFA Champions League Group B play, they were left somewhat frustrated having played up a man for most of the match. Bayern could’ve easily won this game by more goals and there’s still room for improvement.

First Half

With James Rodriguez in the starting lineup for the first time in a competitive match, Bayern quickly dominated possession.

It didn’t take long for Bayern to create trouble for the Anderlecht defense. After a long ball over the top of the defense Robert Lewandowski found himself all alone on his way to goal, leaving defender Sven Kums with no other choice than to push him down. The referee quickly pointed to the spot and gave Kums a straight red card. In the middle of all that madness, Franck Ribéry received a yellow card for protesting the foul and trying to influence the referee into giving the penalty.

Lewandowski calmly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and put Bayern up 1-0 in the 12^th minute. After the penalty and red card, the Belgian champions didn’t stand a chance. The Bavarians kept controlling the game and it looked like another goal was only a matter of time but they couldn’t unlock an organized defense in the first half. Anderlecht happily parked the bus and made it almost impossible for Bayern to get anything going for the rest of the half.

Second Half

The Belgians came out with more energy and grew into the game pushing to get an equalizer. Their best chance of the whole match came in the 49^th minute when Manuel Neuer was beaten by Nicolae Stanciu and it looked like a sure goal but the Romanian unluckily hit the post.

Bayern kept missing chances and gave the visitors hope for the tying goal. If you were watching the beginning of the second half you wouldn’t know Bayern was team playing with a man advantage.

In the 65^th minute, Bayern persistence was finally rewarded when Joshua Kimmich sent the perfect cross to an unmarked Thiago Alcantara who didn’t miss from close range against a helpless Matz Sels. Bayern almost immediately got their third goal when Niklas Süle jumped and headed the ball into the net on a corner but the goal didn’t stand as the referee called a weak foul against the Bayern defender.

Bayern made a double substitution at the 77^th minute bringing a fully healthy Jérôme Boateng for Javi Martínez and bringing Thomas Müller for a visibly upset Ribery. Kingsley Coman came on for James in the 85^th minute. In his first start, James played well and had a couple of chances to score through the match.

With the match already decided in the 90^th minute Boateng made a clever pass right to Kimmich who fooled the opposing goalkeeper and smashed the ball into the empty net. Kimmich, who looked like a future Germany and Bayern Munich captain, had an all-around great game and that amazing goal was the icing on the cake.

Match Details

Goals:
Bayern: Lewandowski (12’ penalty), Thiago (65’), Kimmich (90’)
Anderlecht:

Yellow Cards:
Bayern: Ribéry (11’), Tolisso (74’)
Anderlecht: Trebel (22’), Stanciu (53’)

Red Cards:
Anderlecht: Kums (11’)

Bayern XI: Neuer, Rafinha, Martínez (Boateng, 77’), Süle, Kimmich, Thiago, Tolisso, Ribéry (Müller 78’), Robben, Lewandowski, James (Coman, 85’)

Anderlecht XI: Sels, Stanciu (Onyekuru, 59’), Deschacht, Spajić, Najar (Appiah, 26’), Chipciu, Kums, Trebel, Dendoncker, Teodorczyk (Harbaoui, 84’) Hanni