This team is officially the best in Bundesliga history at the halfway point of a season. FC Bayern Munich broke its own record with a 3-1 (1-1) win at 1. FC Cologne. One reason for this was an incredible goal by Serge Gnabry (45th + 5th) after the opening goal by Linton Maina (41st). Min-jae Kim (71st) and Lennart Karl (84th) ensured the decision and the new record of 47 points and +53 goals after 17 games.
The game started with two banging moments. After just 75 seconds, Said El Mala had a great chance to give the hosts the lead, but Manuel Neuer extended his leg and parried with his foot.
There had previously been a celebratory mood in the Cologne block, the fans set off pyrotechnic fireworks, which had consequences. Referee Patrick Ittrich had to interrupt the game for a whopping ten minutes because of the smoke.
It took a while for the game to really get started. For the first few minutes you could hardly see the opponent’s goal.
Schwäbe saves everything, but Neuer doesn’t save Maina’s shot
After that, the teams needed a little time to get going, then Bayern became strong, but Marvin Schwäbe became even stronger. The FC keeper defused a great chance from Hiroki Ito (21′), a low shot from Michael Olise (24′) and an attempt from 20 meters from Gnabry with a strong flying save (34′). But Schwäbe was also lucky when a back pass slipped over his foot but rolled just past his goal (36th).
The Cologne goalkeeper kept the zero – and those in front of him refined his actions. Maina stole the ball from Gnabry in front of his own penalty area, was allowed to march across the entire field and scored from 16 meters to make it 1-0 (41st). It was a good and hard shot, but certainly not an unstoppable one. Manuel Neuer didn’t look really happy in this situation.
Gnabry works magic like Özil once did
The former national goalkeeper must have been all the happier about Gnabry’s stroke of genius in the fifth minute of stoppage time (because of the pyrofoam). After a cross from Olise, the 30-year-old chipped the ball over his opponent’s leg with the first contact and with the second he deliberately shot it onto the ground, so that the ball bounced over Schwäbe onto the underbar and into the goal. Mesut Özil was known for such passes and shots, so this technique is also called “Özil Bounce”.
Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry celebrates his goal in Cologne
After the break, Bayern didn’t continue, they bit their teeth on the Cologne defense. And so the hosts had the opportunity to make it 2-1, but Neuer was confidently there when Jakub Kaminski shot (58th). On the other hand, coach Vincent Kompany’s team acted too imprecisely in the final third. At times they prevailed and there were shots such as Luis Díaz’s missed shot from a relatively close range (64′).
Cologne is making a decisive inattention
The man with the goal subscription didn’t have a good evening either, Cologne had Harry Kane very well under control. This was also because coach Lukas Kwasniok’s team managed to consistently double the wing players Olise and Díaz, so they couldn’t use their center forward at all. Cologne defended the draw passionately and successfully, but the question was also whether this was possible until the end of the game.
The answer came relatively quickly – and it was: No. The Cologne backline was asleep at a Munich corner, after which Diaz was allowed to cross freely to Ito, who headed the ball onto the head of Kim, who was standing in front of the empty goal (71′). At that moment, the way was clear for the new first-round record that FC Bayern had set under Pep Guardiola in the 2013/14 season.
Back then, the record champions finished the first half of the season with 47 points and +35 goals, now they are 18 goals better. Because Karl carefully completed another Munich counterattack with a low shot to make it 3-1 for the Kompany team (84th).
Does RB Leipzig provide a little bit of excitement?
With this result, it is hardly surprising that the race for the championship this season will probably not be a race. As half-time champions, Munich’s lead over Borussia Dortmund is already eleven points, so the second-placed team has to hope for several slip-ups from the league leader – perhaps there will be one next Saturday. Bayern will play at 6:30 p.m. at RB Leipzig, who scored 21 out of 24 possible points in their own stadium in the first half of the season.
Cologne, on the other hand, has been waiting for success in the Bundesliga since November 2nd and has only gotten two points from the last seven games. Nevertheless, the game against Bayern should not increase the discussions about Kwasniok, who has come under criticism, because his team showed a strong performance against the league’s superior team. It will be more important for Cologne to finally win again on Saturday against Mainz 05 (3:30 p.m.).