Hands up if you were expecting Bayern Munich to cruise to victory at home against Viktoria Plzen. Well done, you're all clearly footballing savants. As expected, the Bavarians crushed their Czech opponents, grabbing two goals in each half to see them off 5-0 and secure their hold atop group D.
Bayern Munich vs. Viktoria Plzen: Final score 5-0, no surprises as Bayern crush minnows
A Franck Ribery brace was more than enough for Bayern Munich to see off Viktoria Plzen at the Allianz Arena.
Alexandra Beier
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Bayern had so many first-half chances that it seems almost perverse to list them all. Suffice to say that the two goals they tallied in the opening period were nowhere near a reflection of how many they could have notched if not for the form of Matus Kozacik, who overcame a shaky start to put in an inspired performance as the visitors were put under the cosh.
A hot goalkeeper isn't much good against a penalty kick, and that's how Bayern grabbed their lead, with Arjen Robben wriggling his way into the box, shifting the ball to his strong foot and being rather crudely brought down by Roman Hubnik, Franck Ribery made no mistake from the box, ending any pretense of Plzen resistance.
David Alaba doubled Bayern's lead in short order, smashing in from the edge of the box after a Mario Mandzukic knockdown, and from then on it was a matter of how many the holders would score rather than whether or not they'd manage to claim the points.
As it turns out, they’d end up with five. Ribery added another with a move that should probably be ruled illegal thanks to being completely unfair, dekeing out a pair of Plzen defenders before scooping over Kozacik and in, while Schweinsteiger added further gloss to the scoring with a first time finish after a nice setup by substitute Mario Goteze, who added one himself during injury time.
Bayern are pretty good, aren’t they?
Bayern Munich starting lineup (4-1-4-1): Manuel Neuer; David Alaba, Diego Contento, Daniel van Buyten, Rafinha, Philipp Lahm; Franck Ribery, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben; Mario Mandzukic.
Viktoria Plzen starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Matus Kozacik; David Limbersky, Roman Hubnik, Marian Cisovsky, Radim Reznik; Pavel Horvath, Vaclav Prochazka; Milan Petrzela, Tomas Horava, Frantisek Rajtoral; Daniel Kolar.
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