FC Bayern Held to 1-1 Draw, Crashes Out of First Place (with Video)

By: phil | February 6th, 2012

FC Bayern lost ground in the race for the Bundesliga today, fighting to a 1-1 draw on the road vs. Hamburg SV. Despite controlling possession for a majority of the match, Bayern was undone by a few defensive break-downs, one of which HSV turned into a goal.

Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger got the start at the double-6, in a somewhat offensive formation. Gustavo was left on the bench and never got into the action. Bayern looked a little out of sorts in the early going; our only real chance was a header from a corner that was waved off for a Gomez push in a very confusing decision.

After that, Hamburg dismantled our defense in the 22d minute, as 5 Bayern defenders slid to the near side and left Sala wide open:

A nice volley, but come on – how could a guy be that unmarked over there? This wasn’t the only time, either. Lahm was out of position a few times, and we made Hamburg’s forwards (who, no offense, are usually no better than “decent”) look like world-beaters as they threaded passes through our defense several times.

FC Bayern did manage to turn up the heat after that, and generated a few chances. Ribery and Robben both looked somewhat threatening, but couldn’t get a break-through. Bayern finally managed to equalize in the 71st minute, as ex-Hamburger Ivica Olic was in the right place to clean up the mess:

The last 20 minutes were pretty exciting, as neither team was looking to settle for a draw. Bayern had a majority of the late chances, but Hamburg pushed forward a few times, and nearly had a winner as Hueng Min Son rounded Neuer but couldn’t quite find the right angle. The series of bad decisions that led to that chance might be the subject of a more detailed examination tomorrow or Monday, but if anyone has a better sequence they want to see broken down, let’s here it.

A disappointing result, no doubt, but there were a few positives:

- Robben showed flashes of his old self, and was at least looking to score rather than just complaining for a foul.

- Alaba brought some energy off the bench and didn’t make any major mistakes.

- Despite playing poorly at times, Bayern at least came away with a point on the road. I understand everyone’s frustrated, but let’s try to keep it clean. Thanks for reading.