Hamburg vs Bayern Munich. German Bundesliga.
AOL-ArenaAttendance57,000.
Saturday 3 November 2012 19:55, UK
Bayern Munich bounced back from last weekend's defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen by winning 3-0 at Hamburg.
Bayern Munich bounced back from last weekend's defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen by demolishing Hamburg 3-0 in their own back yard. Bastian Schweinsteiger gave the Bundesliga leaders the lead late in the first half and Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos wrapped up Bayern's ninth win in 10 games with two goals early in the second 45 minutes. Hamburg were unable to respond as Bayern enjoyed the best possible preparations for their Champions League match with Lille in midweek. Both sides clearly wanted to win the game, resulting in an entertaining opening with chances at both ends. Rafael van der Vaart's shot was blocked in the 12th minute before Franck Ribery missed Bayern's first chance in the 26th minute, blazing a shot over the crossbar. Bayern took the lead in the 40th minute when Muller's header gave Kroos possession, and he drifted wide of the goal. It looked like the chance had gone, but the Germany international had other ideas and lifted the ball from the goal line into the danger area where Schweinsteiger was waiting to head in. Rene Adler could do nothing to keep Schweinsteiger's header out, but he responded well to prevent Mario Mandzukic from doubling Bayern's lead in the 47th minute. A minute later, Ribery sent Muller through and he took advantage of some confusion between Adler and former Bayern defender Marcel Jansen to cut the ball into an unguarded goal from an almost impossible angle. Five minutes later, Kroos added the third after exchanging passes with Ribery to bear down on Adler and beat him with a powerful left-footed shot. Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes started to think of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Lille and took Kroos, Ribery and Luiz Gustavo off. The changes did not weaken his side, although Hamburg never really put them to the test as their heads had dropped and they accepted defeat.
