Having been held to a goalless draw by Hamburger SV at the Imtech Arena a month earlier in the Bundesliga, FC Bayern would not allow history to repeat itself in the second round of the DFB-Pokal – with a comfortable victory over Josef Zinnbauer’s struggling side securing a third round meeting with second division Eintracht Braunschweig.
Reds’ Coach Pep Guardiola made just two changes to Saturday’s starting eleven against Borussia Mönchengladbach, with fan favourite Franck Ribéry coming in for Mario Götze and Jérôme Boateng returning to the back line in place of Medhi Benatia – suspended following a red card last season in the Coppa Italia for Roma. Hamburg coach Zinnbauer surprisingly left Swiss defender Valon Behrami and Dutch talisman Rafael van der Vaart on the bench as he continued in his quest to seek his side’s first competitive win since their first round penalty shootout against Energie Cottbus.
Bayern unsurprisingly took command from the start, quickly establishing themselves against opposition that could best be described as timid and at times overawed by the occasion. These factors led to the early opening goal, with HSV skipper Heiko Westermann’s horrendous backpass being seized upon by Robert Lewandowski, who calmly tucked the ball past ‘keeper Jaroslav Drobný from close range at the second time of asking after his first effort had been cleared off the line by Johan Djourou.
Robert Lewandowski gets the show underway as he tucks the opening goal past Jaroslav Drobný
There was no looking back for Die Roten from that point on, and Thomas Müller looked to have scored a second just three minutes later before his effort was chalked off for offside after first being given as a goal. As the Bayern players celebrated the Hamburg defenders would protest to the assistant on the touchline, and after a short period of consultation the goal was disallowed. Replays showed that Müller was well offside as David Alaba touched Lewandowski’s pass towards the penalty area, so one could say that justice was done.
Bayern would not be denied however, and the constant pressure exerted on the beleaguered Hamburg defence finally paid off a minute before half-time. Philipp Lahm found Alaba in space some thirty yards out, and the Austrian’s well-struck left-footed shot curled wickedly away from Drobný, who could only redirect it into the left hand side of the goal.
If the Hamburg ‘keeper could have done better to keep out Alaba’s effort he had no chance ten minutes after the break, as Ribéry added a third courtesy of a massive deflection off Djourou. Bayern were now away and clear, and as they upped the ante Drobný pulled off a series of fine saves to keep the score respectable. Lewandowski was deniedd, and then a nicely-timed Ribéry volley was smartly turned around the post by the Czech ‘keeper.
Hamburg managed to get a consolation goal five minutes from time as substitute van der Vaart’s cross found the unmarked Pierre-Michel Lasogga in the six-yard box, but Drobný again had to pull out the stops to prevent Bayern from adding to their three-goal tally. Ribéry forced the ‘keeper into another sensational save, and Thomas Müller was also kept out with the Bavarians finishing the game as they had started it.
Franck Ribéry is confronted by a HSV “fan” at the end of the match, which thankfully didn’t escalate
The moments after the final whistle were slightly marred by a HSV “fan”, who managed to make his way onto the pitch and swing his scarf at Ribéry. The Frenchman was initially caught by surprise and started to run towards the interloper, who finished his ridiculous routine with a series of insulting gestures before being taken away by the stewards. Hamburg immediately apologised on Twitter for the incident, and with no damage done Bayern could once again mull over yet another satisfactory evening and a place in the last sixteen.
DFB-Pokal Second Round
Imtech Arena, Hamburg, 29.10.2014
Hamburger SV 1:3 (0:2) FC Bayern
Lasogga 85. / Lewandowski 7., Alaba 44., Ribery 55.
HSV: Drobný – Götz, Djourou (69. van der Vaart), Westermann (c), Ostrzolek – Arslan (61. Kacar), Jiráček (18. Steinmann) – N. Müller, Holtby, Stieber – Lasogga
FC Bayern: Neuer – Rafinha, Boateng, Dante, Bernat – Alonso (70. Højbjerg) – Lahm (c) (65. Rode), Alaba – T. Müller, Lewandowski (75. Pizarro), Ribery
Yellow Cards: Götz, Djourou / –