GERMANY: Dortmund demolish Bayern
Bundesliga defeats for the first time since
November 2011 as Borussia Dortmund
cruised to victory.
Pep Guardiola's champions fell behind after
Henrikh Mkhitaryan coolly stroked home a
fine left-foot finish.
Bayern fell further behind at the Allianz
Arena when Marco Reus scored after Franck
Ribery lost possession.
Dortmund wrapped up the points when
Jonas Hofmann found the net before
Bayern's Rafinha was sent off.
The Brazilian defender was shown a straight
red card in stoppage time after putting a
hand in Mkhitaryan's face.
It completed a frustrating game for Bayern,
who started with Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller
and Jerome Boateng on the bench ahead of
Wednesday's German Cup semi-final with
Kaiserslautern.
The hosts, who have now lost both league
games since being crowned German
champions last month, were a shadow of the
team who has dominated on the domestic
and European stage this season.
While Bayern lost at home in the league for
the first time since October 2012, this result
will at least soften the blow for second-
placed Dortmund after a one-sided title
race. Despite victory, Jurgen Klopp's side
are 17 points behind the champions with
five games of the league season remaining.
They never looked back after Armenia
midfielder Mkhitaryan's composed 20th-
minute finish following an incisive run and
inch-perfect pass from Reus.
Mario Mandzukic wasted a chance to level
shortly before the interval, the Croatian
hooking his shot wide after Rafinha's floated
ball, and it was a costly miss as Reus
doubled Dortmund's advantage soon after
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had gone
off injured.
Neuer's replacement, Lukas Raeder, was
beaten after Ribery gifted possession to
Dortmund, which allowed the visitors to pour
forward and score.
More poor defending from Bayern was
punished by Hofmann's clinical 56th-minute
finish.
Mandzukic had a goal ruled out for offside
before Rafinha was sent off for putting his
hand in Mkhitaryan's face, in what was a
sorry end to a sorry night for Bayern.
Comments
Post a Comment