Manuel Veth - Frankfurt v Bayern was an edgy affair in which Bayern were the more efficient of the two sides. Scoring three goals Bayern won a match
Manuel Veth –
Frankfurt v Bayern was an edgy affair in which Bayern were the more efficient of the two sides. Scoring three goals Bayern won a match that was a lot tighter than the final scoreline suggested.
- Ribéry scores twice
- Rafinha rounds up victory with a lucky goal
- Bayern remain six points behind Bayern
Frankfurt v Bayern
Goals: 0-1 (Frank Ribéry, 35’), 0-2 (Ribéry, 79’), 0-3 (Rafinha, 89′)
It was an edgy start to the match in which both sides played wide open football. Frankfurt, however, created the first chance in the 7′ minute. Bombing forward Filip Kostić played a ball from the left, Luka Jović played a dummy, allowing Mijat Gaćinović to pass the ball to the right where Sebastien Haller was wide open, but Manuel Neuer stopped his shot.
Jović was also involved in the next chance in the 11′ minute. Rushing forward Jović combined well with Haller, but the Serbian forward had to stretch to get the shot off inside the box his ball rolled past the far post to let Neuer off the hook.
Two minutes later Bayern had a double chance. In the 12′ minute David Alaba tested goalkeeper Kevin Trapp with a freekick from 25-yards out. Then on the ensuing corner kick, Trapp pulled off a miracle stop on a flying header by Javi Martínez and then also denied Thomas Müller.
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Both teams then got stuck in midfield until Bayern finally broke the deadlock in the 35′ minute. Thomas Müller was given to much room on the left and played the ball to the centre to Robert Lewandowski; he played the ball across the penalty box to Frank Ribéry, who beat Trapp with a tap-in goal.
To make matters worse, Frankfurt then lost Gaćinović to a hamstring injury just before halftime in the 43′ minute. And Bayern almost capitalised from the confusion caused by the early injury. In the 44′ minute, Thiago played a ball to the right where Lewandowski found the room to cross in the centre where Müller’s header hit the crossbar.
It was a more cautious start to the second half by Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern, in the meantime, seemed happy with Frankfurt’s approach sitting a bit deeper looking to rush forward whenever winning the ball deep.
As a result, it took until the 60′ minute for any of the two sides to produce another chance. Not surprisingly, the chance arrived from a corner with Danny da Costa getting on the end of a Jonathan de Guzman corner, but his backheel lacked the pace to beat Manuel Neuer.
The second half quickly descended into an edgy affair with both sides knowing that the next goal would be decisive. Most of the action took place at the middle third at this point in a game that was now defined by many little fouls.
In the 79′ minute, Bayern sealed it. Ribéry won the ball deep in Frankfurt’s half, played a one-two with Joshua Kimmich, and then beat Trapp with a deflected shot that hit the inside of the post to roll across the line. In the 89′ minute, Bayern added a third. Rafinha wanted to chip a ball across to Lewandowski but the ball slipped off his foot and to the surprise to everyone in the stadium sailed over keeper Trapp to make it 3-0.
Frankfurt v Bayern – Man of the Match
Frank Ribéry was the man of the match once again. On his current form, it is almost hard to imagine that the 35-year-old could retire at the end of the season. The winger not only scored two goals but also had 61 touches and completed 84.6% of his passes.
Frankfurt v Bayern – Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich battles for possession with Danny Da Costa of Eintracht Frankfurt during the Bundesliga match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Muenchen at Commerzbank-Arena on December 22, 2018 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Photo by Simon Hofmann/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Frankfurt v Bayern – Talking Point
The scoreline may have flattered Bayern a bit. But three points are three points, and Bayern may not have deserved to win this game 3-0, but they deserved to win this match. The result will give the Bavarians some much needed believe in the Bundesliga title race. The result and the six-point gap to the top of the table could now spur the Bayern bosses into action to complete some key transfers in January to be thereabouts in the title race and the Champions League in the spring.
Frankfurt v Bayern – Match Stats
- For the first time in his career, Niko Kovac has won 5 consecutive games in the Bundesliga. Even as a player of Bayern he had failed to do so (four wins).
- Ribéry is the oldest player of Bayern (35 years, 259 days) to score more than one goal in a Bundesliga game.
- Ribéry scores in 3 consecutive games in the Bundesliga for the first time since February 2015, after not scoring in his first 11 games in the Bundesliga in this season.
Frankfurt v Bayern – Line-ups
Eintracht Frankfurt:
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Trapp – N’Dicka, Falette, Salcedo – Kostić, Fernandes (N. Müller, 70′), Willems, da Costa – Gaćinović (de Guzman, 43′) – Jović, Haller
Coach: Adi Hütter
Bayern München:
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Neuer – Alaba, Boateng, Süle, Rafinha – Javi Martínez, Kimmich – Ribéry (Coman, 90′), Thiago, T. Müller (Shabani, 90′) – Lewandowski (Wagner, 90′)
Coach: Niko Kovač
Manuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and among others works for the Bundesliga and Pro Soccer USA. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which is available HERE. Originally from Munich, Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently is located in Victoria BC, Canada. Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.
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