fc bayern münchen vs. fc schalke 04: 2-0...
YAY! Bayern won! I'm so thrilled about this! Finally, they showed a bit of what they're actually capable of! They let Schalke feel the pressure from the start, and when they calmed down a bit after the first goal, they still didn't leave their opponent enough room to advance.
The few chances Schalke had during the match were blocked by a marvellous defence. I especially liked Daniel van Buyten's efforts. It shows that he has taken previous criticism seriously and improved accordingly. Lucio advanced a bit too often for my taste. He's not a forward. If he wants to advance, he should stop in the midfield and pass the ball to someone else. Many times, chances of a quick advance were wasted because Lucio wanted to push through a wall of Schalke players. I'm not complaining too much because there was still a good van Buyten in the defence, but had things become a bit more difficult, I don't think Lucio would have been able to save us today.
Bayern's midfield was very well organized, I think. Especially at the beginning, the midfielders were like a wall and hardly let any Schalke players pass, except after fouls. And there were a lot of fouls. Things got very heated up once in the first half, when Fabian Ernst was booked for a quite cruel foul and - as always - Willy Sagnol annoyed the referee with complaints so he was booked, too. Only the referee and all his assistants together could finally solve the problem and separate the players. Well, it's understandable, really. There's a lot at stake for both teams, and neither could have been satisfied with a loss.
That first goal was a thing of brilliance, by the way, with Mark van Bommel passing the ball to Roy Makaay and the striker slamming it into the net, right above Manuel Neuer, who could not have caught that ball. Awesome. It was also Makaay's 100th Bundesliga goal, and it only took him about three minutes. You rock, Roy! *virtually squishes*
Great preparations by Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm, by the way! It seems that Lahm is finally on his way back to his World Cup form. He did a lot of running and his passes were always clever. Bastian Schweinsteiger was a lot better than in previous matches, too, even though he still doesn't dare taking shots on the goal. He had this huge chance when he just had to kick the ball with the force he usually brings up, but instead, he passed the ball to someone who was in a far worse position and the chance was wasted. And YAY for Andi Ottl! There wasn't too much to see of him, but whenever he had the ball, he proved that he has internalized Bayern's tactics and the paths of his colleagues. His passes were accurate and always supportive, and he even prepared the second goal! Congratulations, Andi! I'm so proud of you! And OMG, Martín Demichelis and Daniel van Buyten played together in the central defence again! *squeebounce* It was only for a couple of minutes, after Lucio was subbed with Micho, but it made me really happy. :)
Compared to the match against Werder Bremen, Bayern finally seemed to have learned that chances must not be wasted. They didn't have too many, and most of them were blocked by a most awesome Manuel Neuer, but their chances resulted in two goals and that's most satisfying.
Statistics:
Teams:
FC Bayern München:
Kahn -
Sagnol, Lucio (Demichelis, 85.), van Buyten, Lahm - Ottl - Salihamidzic, van Bommel, Schweinsteiger (Lell, 87.) - Podolski, Makaay (Pizarro, 71.)
FC Schalke 04: Neuer -
Rafinha, Bordon,
Krstajic, Pander -
Ernst - Bajramovic (Özil, 65.), Kobiashvili - Halil Altintop (Asamoah, 74.),
Lövenkrands (Larsen, 36.), Kuranyi
Goals:
1-0 Makaay (3., right foot, direct assist by van Bommel)
2-0 Salihamidzic (78., right foot, direct assist by Lucio)
Referee:
Fandel (Kyllburg) - had some problems with offsides that weren't offsides; also, he should have sent off Oliver Kahn after hitting back Sören Larsen after a corner.
The few chances Schalke had during the match were blocked by a marvellous defence. I especially liked Daniel van Buyten's efforts. It shows that he has taken previous criticism seriously and improved accordingly. Lucio advanced a bit too often for my taste. He's not a forward. If he wants to advance, he should stop in the midfield and pass the ball to someone else. Many times, chances of a quick advance were wasted because Lucio wanted to push through a wall of Schalke players. I'm not complaining too much because there was still a good van Buyten in the defence, but had things become a bit more difficult, I don't think Lucio would have been able to save us today.
Bayern's midfield was very well organized, I think. Especially at the beginning, the midfielders were like a wall and hardly let any Schalke players pass, except after fouls. And there were a lot of fouls. Things got very heated up once in the first half, when Fabian Ernst was booked for a quite cruel foul and - as always - Willy Sagnol annoyed the referee with complaints so he was booked, too. Only the referee and all his assistants together could finally solve the problem and separate the players. Well, it's understandable, really. There's a lot at stake for both teams, and neither could have been satisfied with a loss.
That first goal was a thing of brilliance, by the way, with Mark van Bommel passing the ball to Roy Makaay and the striker slamming it into the net, right above Manuel Neuer, who could not have caught that ball. Awesome. It was also Makaay's 100th Bundesliga goal, and it only took him about three minutes. You rock, Roy! *virtually squishes*
Great preparations by Lukas Podolski and Philipp Lahm, by the way! It seems that Lahm is finally on his way back to his World Cup form. He did a lot of running and his passes were always clever. Bastian Schweinsteiger was a lot better than in previous matches, too, even though he still doesn't dare taking shots on the goal. He had this huge chance when he just had to kick the ball with the force he usually brings up, but instead, he passed the ball to someone who was in a far worse position and the chance was wasted. And YAY for Andi Ottl! There wasn't too much to see of him, but whenever he had the ball, he proved that he has internalized Bayern's tactics and the paths of his colleagues. His passes were accurate and always supportive, and he even prepared the second goal! Congratulations, Andi! I'm so proud of you! And OMG, Martín Demichelis and Daniel van Buyten played together in the central defence again! *squeebounce* It was only for a couple of minutes, after Lucio was subbed with Micho, but it made me really happy. :)
Compared to the match against Werder Bremen, Bayern finally seemed to have learned that chances must not be wasted. They didn't have too many, and most of them were blocked by a most awesome Manuel Neuer, but their chances resulted in two goals and that's most satisfying.
Statistics:
Teams:
FC Bayern München:
Kahn -
Sagnol, Lucio (Demichelis, 85.), van Buyten, Lahm - Ottl - Salihamidzic, van Bommel, Schweinsteiger (Lell, 87.) - Podolski, Makaay (Pizarro, 71.)
FC Schalke 04: Neuer -
Rafinha, Bordon,
Krstajic, Pander -
Ernst - Bajramovic (Özil, 65.), Kobiashvili - Halil Altintop (Asamoah, 74.),
Lövenkrands (Larsen, 36.), Kuranyi
Goals:
1-0 Makaay (3., right foot, direct assist by van Bommel)
2-0 Salihamidzic (78., right foot, direct assist by Lucio)
Referee:
Fandel (Kyllburg) - had some problems with offsides that weren't offsides; also, he should have sent off Oliver Kahn after hitting back Sören Larsen after a corner.