Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg: 3 talking points as Die Roten score two late goals

Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg: 3 talking points as Die Roten score two late goals | Bundesliga 2019-20

Modified Dec 21, 2019 18:24 GMT

Bayern Munich left it late once again as they were able to pull a rabbit out of the hat once more, scoring two quickfire goals late in the game to overcome the resilience of the visiting Wolfsburg team in their Bundesliga clash

It was a rather dull game for much of the 90 minutes, with forwards on both sides of the divide offering little by way of clear cut chances.

However, Bayern repeated their heroics from midweek once again as substitute Joshua Zirkzee was on the end of a fine Die Roten move to break the deadlock in the 85th minute of play.

Serge Gnabry hit the final nail on the coffin a few minutes later, as he received a lovely Robert Lewandowski cross unchallenged in the Wolfsburg penalty area before expertly dispatching the ball beyond the reach of Koen Casteels.

Bayern Munich end the decade with 33 points and in 3rd place on the Bundesliga table, while Wolfsburg go into 2020 in 9th place with 24 points. In this article, we discuss a few talking points from the encounter.

#3 Bayern Munich wasteful for much of the encounter

The Bavarian giants have oftentimes been regarded as 'lucky' in a couple of encounters this term, conjuring up results despite being lacklustre at times.

In this encounter, the Bayern Munich attacking machine came up against a very resilient Wolfsburg defence, however, Die Roten's forwards can be accused of not making the most of their team's command of proceedings.

Wave after wave of Bayern attack was stifled by dogged defending on the part of Wolfsburg as well as the likes of Thomas Muller, Phillipe Coutinho, Joshua Kimmich, etc blatantly throwing away opportunities.

Die Roten had 18 shots in the encounter and more than half the possession, but most of their chances weren't clear cut. Muller, in particular, looked out of sorts till the substitution of Coutinho, and the German legend seemed to be in his element once again, playing a huge part in the two goals.

#2 Robert Lewandowski gagged for much of the encounter

Robert Lewandowski in action for Bayern Munich

Robert Lewandowski has a lofty reputation which precedes him, and not many defences live to tell the tale of their encounter with the Polish destroyer.

Lewandowski has been in amazing form this season, with 30 goals so far at the halfway point, and 19 finishes in 17 Bundesliga appearances. However, the Wolfsburg rearguard was having none of that, as they managed to gag the Polish international for much of the encounter.

Bayern's premier hitman was on hand to provide Serge Gnabry with the assist late on, but he was effectively stifled by Wolfsburg's centre backs John Brooks & Marcel Tisserand for much of the battle.

Lewandowski only managed to register a single shot in the game and wasn't allowed to shoot throughout the second half.

#1 Joshua Zirkzee scores with his first shot once again

It's said that lightning doesn't strike twice; however, for Bayern Munich that assertion may not exactly be true.

The Bavarian giants were once again toying with the prospect of sharing the points just as they were in midweek against Freiburg, but Hans-Dieter Flick decided to once again send on Joshua Zirkzee, effectively pulling a rabbit out of the hat for the second time in two consecutive games.

The 18-year-old came on to combine beautifully with Thomas Muller, playing a nice one-two before sending the ball into the bottom corner for the tiebreaker!

As if that deja vu moment wasn't enough, Serge Gnabry got in on the act three minutes later, as he received a delightful pass from Robert Lewandowski to effectively seal the fate of Wolfsburg and secure the points bag.

Gnabry and Zirkzee performed a similar trick in midweek, as they downed Freiburg with 2 quickfire goals late on to confirm all 3 points for the Bavarian giants.

Edited by S Chowdhury