2007/08 German Bundesliga: Bayern Munich has early stranglehold on championship after one-sided game

August 18, 2007Bremen, Germany

Bayern Munich won a lop-sided game against Werder Bremen 4-0 to remain at the top of the table on Saturday.

Bayern Munich took the lead in an evenly matched first period as Francy Ribéry scored on a penalty after Luca Toni was fouled by Petri Pasanen in the 31st minute. Bayern’s second goal came early in the 2nd half as Luca Toni scored his 2nd goal in as many games in the 51st minute. Bayern finished the match off when substitutes Hamit Altintop and Andreas Ottl in the 79th and 87th minute respectively.

Bayern Munich made 1 change to the side from the victory over Rostock, Christian Lell replacing Marcell Jansen who is out nursing an injury. Philipp Lahm switched flanks to free up the right-back for Lell.

Thomas Schaaf made three changes that started in the Champions League qualifier in mid-week against Dinamo Zagreb. Jurica Vranjes and Daniel Jensen replaced Carlos Alberto and Leon Andreasen in midfield. Striker Hugo Almeida replace Kevin Schindler in attack.

Standings
Standings after Saturday games of Week 2

Quotes
Ottmar Hitzfeld: “We didn’t really settle in the first half hour, and Bremen matched us all the way. We needed a solo effort from von Luca Toni to earn us the penalty that gave us the lead. The important thing for me was our good defensive organisation. Right at the start, Sanogo had a clear-cut chance for Bremen because we went to sleep for a moment. That shouldn’t be happening. We had Bremen well under control in the second half. We denied them space and looked for chances on the break. There’s a long way to go yet this season, a lot can still happen. You can be very unlucky with injuries. There are still plenty of question-marks.“

Oliver Kahn: “It was a very, very good display from us today, we played very well in defence and in attack. It’s a real pleasure watching Ribéry at times, to be honest, but it’s just as important that we kept it tight at the back. I’ve always said that if we play well in defence, we’ll not only play good football, we’ll win trophies. And I said beforehand that if we won in Bremen it would send out an unmistakable signal. It’s an important result.“

Thomas Schaaf: “That was the best we could do with the injury situation we have right now. The first half was OK, but unfortunately we’re missing a cutting edge up front. We tried to build up a head of steam in the second half and fight back, but it didn’t work out. We were our own worst enemies in that we were caught upfield and handed Bayern their two counter-attacking chances on a plate. We were too naive in those situations. It’s a long season, and we’ll have to wait and see if Bayern can keep it up. They’ll definitely have more difficult games than we were able to offer them today.“