A match that appeared destined to end 0-0 in the waning minutes ended with a thrill and a tie changing goal thanks to the heroics of Mario Gomez. With neither side able to muster a goal all the way into the 90th minute Arjen Robben cut in from the right and unleashed a shot from 30 yards that Julio Cesar should have secured, but instead spilled into the path of Gomez who tapped it into the goal for the goal. Now, Bayern Munich will head home to the Allianz Arena with a 1-0 lead for the second leg of the UEGA Champions League round of 16 tie, while Inter Milan are left to wonder how to come back after dropping the opening match at home.
Inter Milan Vs. Bayern Munich: Mario Gomez’s Winner Sends Munich Home 1-0 Winners
The first half saw Bayern knock the ball around with aplomb and dominate possession, but never threaten the goal, while Inter lacked any sort of cohesion in the midfield, but were dangerous in the counter and claim all of the half's best chances. Inter's plan to put Wesley Sneijder and Dejan Stankovic in front of their three other midfielders ended up a failure as the three deeper midfielders dropped so deep that they might as well have been defenders. With the center of the park essentially ceded to Munich, the Germans took over, but never even threatened goal. Meanwhile, Inter found themselves in space on a couple counter-attacks, never getting a better chance that around the 30th minute when Samuel Eto'o turned and found space from 12 yards only to have Thomas Kraft do well to get down and make a fine save.
After the halfitme break Munich came out firing and finally turned their possession into chances. Right away Robben found space on the right and delivered a beautiful ball into Thomas Muller, but the chance was wasted when Muller couldn’t get the ball on goal and instead the visitors had to watch it trickle wide of the frame. Robben came right back, this time coming across the entire field from left to right before beating Cesar only to punish the post.
Inter got a chance of their own not long after as the match really began to open up. It was Eto’o again who did the work, this time brilliantly bringing down a ball with his chest and dancing past a defender to create space, but once against Kraft was up to the task with a fantastic save.
Right back on the other end Robben threatened again. A few minutes earlier he came across from left to right, but this time he went from right to left to get himself space from 20 yards. Robben couldn’t quite find the mark though as he blasted it over the bar to keep the match even.
The last 10 minutes turned squarely to the hosts and Inter pushed for that all-important win at the San Siro. They pressured the Germans and got a few chances, forcing Kraft to come off of his line to get his hand on a dangerous cross and making the 22-year-old get to a header that looked goal bound.
Through all the pressure Kraft was strong and saved the visitors on a number of occasions, allowing Gomez to get his late winner and send Munich back to Germany ahead 1-0. While Gomez got the winner and gets to play the role of hero, it was Robben and Kraft who deserve the bulk of the praise. Robben was sensational and at the center of all the Munich forays forward, even hitting the shot that Cesar fumbled into Gomez's path. Kraft was strong all match and on a night when Inter couldn't get their keeper to hold onto the ball resulting in a goal, Kraft was up to any task.
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