Match awards for Bayern’s 4-2 victory over Dortmund

After going down 2-0 early thanks for a brace from Haaland, Bayern Munich put relentless pressure on Dortmund. By halftime, Lewandowski also had himself a double, finding himself a goal and a penalty conversion that took both teams even into the locker room. Bayern continued putting pressure on Dortmund in the second half, but it took until the 88th minute for Goretzka to score the game-winner. Lewandowski finished it off with a hat-trick goal in the 90th minute to secure all three points and put Bayern back to the top of the table. Here are our match awards.

Jersey Swap: Erling Braut Haaland

Of all the players that I wish would swap their jerseys and put on the Bavarian red, it is Haaland. Every Bayern’s fan worst nightmare happened inside 90 seconds when the Norwegian striker put Dortmund up 1-0. Then seven minutes later he scored again. Unfortunately for the neutral fans and the lovers of the game, Haaland had to leave the match after suffering an apparent ankle injury. Dortmund’s counter attacks were not nearly as dangerous as they were with Haaland on the field. Bayern fans can only hope that Lewandowski will be able to cancel out Haaland in each meeting until he inevitably leaves Dortmund - preferably following in the footsteps of Lewandowski himself.

Der Bomber: Leroy Sane

Sane picked up right where he left off last week. Although the majority of the attacks went down Bayern’s left, Sane inserted himself into the match and contributed as much as he could. During the first half, Sane found himself up against Schultz 1v1 and used his fancy footwork to get past the Dortmund defender to assist Lewandowski’s first goal. After this, Dortmund put an extra defender on him for most of the remainder of the game. However, his movement off the ball allowed for him to get into just enough space to make quick touches to his teammates in the attack.

Fußballgott: Leon Goretzka

Goretzka impressed today on both sides of the ball. When Haaland was still in, Goretzka had to sit back a little further and be ready for a Dortmund counter attack. Especially in the second half, Goretzka was a key part of moving the ball forward after those counters, playing a bridge between the defense and the forwards. To be fair, I felt Kimmich did this just as well or even better. However, Goretzka gets the nod for best midfielder today due to his game-winning goal. In another late serge of attack that Dortmund repelled, the ball came straight to Goretzka off of an attempted clearance. Goretzka took it one time and slotted it past the diving Dortmund keeper, off the post, and into the back of the net. A great way to end the night after a great performance box to box.

Der Kaiser: Niklas Süle

The experiment of Süle playing right back continued today. Although I would have liked to see a little bit more from him on defense, Süle is beginning to shine more so when he goes forward in the attack. Defending Haaland and company today was never going to be an easy task, but Süle showed that we has able to play up and get back on defense — save for Dortmund’s second goal when Bayern’s back four were all a bit flat-footed and watched Haaland sneak past them to score. For the rest of the game, Süle found his rhythm and helped his team keep Dortmund in check. Eventually, Süle was able to creep further and further up the field.

Meister of the Match: Robert Lewandowski

There is not much more than can be said about Lewandowski than what has already been said. Seeing Haaland score two goals early may have lit a fire in Lewy. He was firing the ball towards net at every chance that he could get. As he often does, Lewandowski was in the right place at the right time to receive Sane’s pass and get Bayern on the board. He was cool, calm, and collected when he stepped up to take the penalty. His trademark runup and hesitation sent the Dortmund keeper the wrong way, as he leveled the score right before half. In the second half, he came out with the same intensity trying to give his team another goal. Almost immediately after Goretzka’s winner, Lewandowski received a nice pass from Alphonso Davies — dummied by Sane. Thomas Müller would have been wide open in the box, but Lewandowski hesitated for a moment, causing the defense to suck into Müller momentarily, giving the Polish hitman the small window he needed to complete his hat trick and put the game to bed.