Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Dortmund 1: Boateng, Muller earn DFB-Pokal revenge

Bayern Munich's treble dreams are still alive after it knocked holder Borussia Dortmund out of the DFB-Pokal.

Published : Dec 21, 2017 09:09 IST

Thomas Muller's goal proved to be the winner for Bayern Munich, which signed off 2017 with a win.
Thomas Muller's goal proved to be the winner for Bayern Munich, which signed off 2017 with a win.
lightbox-info

Thomas Muller's goal proved to be the winner for Bayern Munich, which signed off 2017 with a win.

Bayern Munich moved into the fourth round of the DFB-Pokal with a 2-1 win over holder Borussia Dortmund at the Allianz Arena.

First-half goals from Jerome Boateng and Thomas Muller were enough to keep Bayern's treble dreams alive and avenge a semi-final defeat at the hands of Dortmund last season, despite Andriy Yarmolenko's lifeline.

The result is Peter Stoger's first defeat since taking charge of BVB this month, with his side having won back-to-back Bundesliga matches since he was appointed as successor to Peter Bosz.

Dortmund stunned Bayern in the last four in 2016-17 as it came from two goals down to win 3-2, but its chances of another upset were dealt a blow before kick-off as the injured Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to make the squad.

Boateng nodded the home side ahead in the 12th minute after a spell of early dominance and Muller doubled the lead before the break at the end of a fine passing move, shortly after Yarmolenko had seen an effort cleared off the line.

Dortmund improved in the second half but it had Roman Burki to thank for keeping his side just about in the contest, the goalkeeper making excellent saves to deny James Rodriguez and Muller in particular.

Yarmolenko gave BVB some hope but Bayern held out for its sixth win in a row in all competitions, and it can now prepare for a quarter-final tie beginning in January, with duties for 2017 completed.

Read: Lewandowski demands focus ahead of Christmas

Bayern's bright start almost yielded a goal in the third minute, with Arturo Vidal smacking the crossbar with a diving header following Joshua Kimmich's pinpoint cross.

Burki could only watch the ball bounce clear but the goalkeeper was in the thick of the action five minutes later, standing tall to block Robert Lewandowski's chip after the striker sprung Dortmund's offside trap.

Shortly after, Burki blocked a rasping drive from Franck Ribery before Lewandowski hooked the rebound wide, as Bayern continued to threaten in the opening exchanges.

The breakthrough duly arrived with 12 minutes gone, as Boateng steered the rebound into the right-hand corner of the net after Niklas Sule crashed a header off the bar.

Dortmund had offered little support to Yarmolenko and Christian Pulisic in attack but it almost snatched an equaliser 10 minutes before the break, with Yarmolenko placing a shot past Sven Ulreich only for David Alaba to clear brilliantly off the line.

It proved to be a costly miss as, five minutes later, Bayern doubled its lead. Lewandowski's clever pass sent Muller free into the penalty area, where he chipped a clever finish past Burki from six yards out.

The home side nearly had a third in the first minute of the second half, with Burki getting down swiftly to claw away James' effort, before Sule headed the resulting corner over the bar.

Muller thought he had scored a second when he met Alaba's cross at the right-hand post, only for Burki to produce the save of the match, the Switzerland goalkeeper lifting a foot to keep out the header.

Shinji Kagawa shot wide from a tight angle as Dortmund pushed forward looking for a lifeline, but Muller nearly squeezed in his side's third on the counter-attack, with James just unable to connect with the loose ball.

Bayern was punished for dropping deeper and deeper with 13 minutes left, as Yarmolenko headed past Ulreich after being picked out brilliantly by Kagawa, but Dortmund could not manage another famous comeback as it ended 2017 in disappointing fashion.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment