‘Kim Min-jae scores 12th consecutive full-time goal + Kane hat-trick’ Munich cruise to 4-0 win over Dortmund…remain ‘unbeaten’ in league
Harry Kane’s hat-trick and a full-time strike from Kim Min-Jae helped Bayern Munich to a convincing win in the ‘Der Klassiker’.
Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-0 victory over Dortmund in the “Der Klassiker” of the 10th round of the 2023/24 Bundesliga at the Sigmund-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, on Friday (Sept. 5).
In the starting lineup, Kim Min-jae played full-time for the 12th consecutive game and anchored the defense. Unlike the last game against Saarbrücken, the defense was solid and stable.
With the win, Munich (26 points) stayed in second place, maintaining the gap between them and leaders Leverkusen (28 points). Dortmund (21 points), on the other hand, lost to Munich, failing to move above third-place Stuttgart (21 points) and out of fourth place.
The all-time head-to-head record between the two clubs ahead of the derby was 66 wins, 35 draws, and 32 defeats in favor of Munich. In the past, especially in the 2010s, the two clubs have developed a strong rivalry, even meeting in the UEFA Champions League final in the 2012/13 season, but in recent years, Munich has been more dominant. The Bavarians held the upper hand in the two meetings last season, winning one and drawing the other, and in the last five meetings between the two clubs, Munich has come away with four wins and one draw. Dortmund’s last win over Munich came in August 2019, so it was a whopping four years since they last attempted to win at home, but they came up short once again.
The hosts lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Gregor Kovacs in goal and Julian Luegersson, Niko Schlotterbeck, Mats Hummels, and Marius Wolf in defense. In midfield, Salih Wazuzan and Marcel Zabiczer started in the back three, while Marco Reus, Julian Brandt, and Donnier Malone played in the back two to support frontline striker Niklas Fühlkrug.
The visitors lined up in a 4-2-3-1. Manuel Neuer got the goalkeeping gloves, while Alfonso Davies, Kim Min-Jae, Dayot Upamecano, and Nusair Mazrouei formed the back four. Leon Goretzka and Konrad Reimer guarded the back three, while Kingsley Coman, Jamal Moussaouiallah and Leroy Sane made up the back two. Harry Kane started up front.
Munich had major injury concerns heading into this game. It was a combination of injuries to the back line and problems in midfield.
The biggest issue is the injury suffered by Matthias der Licht in the second round of the Pokal against Saarbrücken. “Der Licht will not be able to play for the timf being,” the club said, adding, “He partially tore the medial ligament in his right knee in the second round of the DFB-Pokal. This was confirmed by the Munich medical team after the game and he will miss the next match.”
The club did not specify a specific rehabilitation period, but German media are predicting a four-week absence. The Bundesliga has a winter break, which means Munich will have a four-week break after their Round of 16 away match against Wolfsburg on December 19. This means that if his recovery is slow, he could miss the entire first half of the season before the winter break.
Der Licht’s absence would be devastating. In the last match, Tuchel removed Der Licht after 24 minutes and went with a center back line of Joshua Kimmich and Kim Min-Jae. The duo held out until midway through the second half, but their defensive faltering proved costly as Saarbrücken counter-attacked in the closing stages.
Kim Min-jae also struggled to make an impact. He dropped a pass to concede the equalizer in the first half, and later put his head down when he made a tackle on an opposing attacker, touching the ball and giving him an assist. German media also gave Kim the lowest rating on the team.
In his press conference, Tuchel also directly criticized the goal that Kim was involved in. “Franz was under a lot of pressure, so it was definitely not a good decision on his part. He was in a 50-50 chance battle, but he could have kept pushing,” Tuchel said, pointing to a poor passing decision by Kim that led to the first goal.
“That happens to us too often. We take risks where we don’t need to. We take risks where we don’t need to, even though we want to play diagonally, we get stretched out too much,” he added. However, there was a lot that Kim Min-jae could do about it, as he had been playing a lot of minutes in recent games, playing the majority of the center back role by himself.
There were no alternatives. In addition to Der Licht, another defender, French international Dayo Upamecano, was also rehabbing from injury. Upamecano was the defender who pushed Der Licht out of the way and formed the center-back pairing with Kim earlier this season, but he was sidelined for three weeks after injuring his hamstring (back thigh muscle) on March 24. He was expected to return in the middle of the month, but was fortunate to make an early return and was named in the starting lineup against Dortmund.
The Bavarians have been forced to reconsider their option to sign Boateng before his return to the Uffa Meccano. While the transfer window is closed and they can’t bring in players from other teams, they can register unemployed players and use them in the Bundesliga. It is likely that they will hold out until the winter transfer window and then try to make new signings.
In addition to the defense, the midfield was a big question mark as Goretzka is recovering from injury and Kimmich was suspended for his sending off against Darmstadt, but Tuchel thankfully made what he thought was the best choice with Upamecano and Goretzka returning from injury before the game.
In his pre-match press conference, Dortmund coach Edin Dzerzhik said, “We know their strengths. People only talk about the last game against Saarbrücken, but they scored eight goals in the Gyzan weekend. If you look at the stats, we haven’t gotten good results in the last few games against them,” he warned.
“We are much better, and in last year’s match we were all good and brave. We have to realize that these games can be decided by small details, and we can’t miss too many chances,” he added, expressing his desire to win the match.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel was the first to address injuries in his pre-match press conference. “No decisions have been made yet, I have to see the players and the medical staff. It is still possible that some players will be able to start,” he said.
Tuchel initially confused fans with an ambiguous answer about the defense, saying, “If Upamecano can’t play, I’ll play Goretzka, and if Goretzka can’t play, I’ll play Upamecano. We have to wait and see. If you think about how limited (in movement) Lejeune Gnabry was when he played with a splint, Goretzka is also in a splint for a few days, so we have to be careful.” Tuchel was less clear about his players’ injuries, and it was only through the starting lineup that we got a glimpse of his intentions.
Some German media outlets picked up on Tuchel’s comments after the press conference, saying, “Tuchel doesn’t talk to the rest of the players except for a few, like Harry Kane and Leroy Sane. It’s to the point where players have to ask the head coach to find out if they’re playing or not.” However, Tuchel did start Upamecano and Goretzka when they returned, as mentioned.
“It will be important for us to play to our limits and be diligent,” he said of the match against Dortmund. I think we have enough quality, skill and spirit to win in Dortmund. We will go there to win,” he said.
The Bavarians took control of the game early in the first half, with Kim Min-jae’s defensive work standing out. After receiving a penetrating pass from the front line in the second minute, Pilkruk pressed and quickly regained possession of the ball.
Munich capitalized on a set-piece opportunity early on to take the lead. In the fourth minute of the first half, the ball from a corner kick was untouched until it reached an onrushing Upamecano in front of goal, who slotted the ball in right in front of Kovel, leaving him unable to react.
After the goal, Munich continued to push Dortmund. In the sixth minute of the first half, Coman took a pass from Mbappe at the top of the penalty box arc, but his attempt sailed over the bar.
Munich increased their lead on the counterattack with a neat finish from Kane. In the ninth minute, during a counterattack spearheaded by Goretzka, Sane won the ball on the left side of the penalty box and sent a low cross to Kane in the box. The defense failed to clear the cross, and Kane flicked it into the back of the net to rattle the Dortmund net.
Dortmund gradually began to push back. In the 14th minute, Marlon broke through and got to the front of the penalty box, where he tried to shoot at the Munich goal, but his effort was immediately blocked by Kim Min-jae and Reimer. In the 23rd minute, Brandt picked up the ball in front of the penalty box and immediately tried his luck on goal with a left-footed shot that went wide of the post.
Despite the attack, the defense remained steady with Upamecano and Kim Min-jae. In the 28th minute, Fulkruk sent two crosses into the box, but Upamecano made an early save with a header. In the 30th minute, a counterattack was organized through Wolf’s pass, but Upamecano and Kim Min-jae settled down to prevent it from happening.
Munich pushed to extend their lead to three goals, but were unable to find the back of the net. In the 32nd minute, Kane received a pass from Coman and fired a right-footed shot from the right side of the penalty box into the corner of the goal, but the ball hit the post and bounced right back out.
As the defense stabilized, Kim Min-jae’s passes became sharper. In the 35th minute, Kim made a slight advance from the back to get near the halfway line before connecting a long pass to an onrushing Sane on the left.
His acrobatic shot left Dortmund with their hearts in their mouths. In the 36th minute, Komang’s cross was met by Goretzka on the chest near the arc of the penalty box and he finished with a bicycle kick. The shot came so unexpectedly that Kovac couldn’t even react before it found the side netting.
Munich tried to push harder on offense. In the 38th minute, Goretzka tried to head a ball into the center of the penalty box, only to be hit by Hummels and sent back out of the box. As Dortmund looked to launch a counter-attack, Kim Min-jae was again on hand to block a pass towards the Dortmund penalty box, and Kane’s subsequent attempt was blocked by a tackle from Özcan.
Minjae’s excellent blocking kept Dortmund out of trouble until the final minutes of the first half. In the 42nd minute, Wolf had a golden opportunity to get into the box from the right side of the penalty area off a pass from Brandt, but Kim was at full stretch to palm the ball away.
Dortmund also missed a late chance in the first half. In first-half stoppage time, Xavier lost his balance and played a pass from the front of the box to Pilkruk, who collected it and sent a low cross towards Brandt in the box. The cross failed to reach Brandt’s feet and fell to Marlon on the right side of the penalty box, whose left-footed shot sailed over the bar instead of into the net. The first half ended with a 2-0 lead for Munich.
Munich pushed forward in front of the Dortmund goal at the start of the second half. In the first minute of the second half, Kane played a pass from the center of the field to Moussaoui Allah, who slipped through the Dortmund defense and found himself one-on-one with the keeper. However, Mkhitaryan’s shot hit Kovac on the chest and was blocked.
Munich rattled the net, but the goal was disallowed. Three minutes into the second half, Kane had a shot saved after receiving a penetrating pass, then Mkhitaryan picked up the ball and slotted the ball into the Dortmund net with a pinpoint shot from distance, but the goal was disallowed after Kane was ruled offside in an earlier incident.
Kim Min-jae made a neat interception to deny Dortmund another chance. In the fourth minute of the second half, Royce received a penetrating pass and cut it off with his back foot to deny them a chance.
On the ensuing Dortmund attack, Royce received a crisp pass just inside the penalty box that could have led to a shot on goal, but Kim Min-jae made a sliding tackle to break up the pass before the ball could reach Royce.
Building on the counter-attack, Munich threatened in front of their own goal. In the eighth minute of the second half, Davies, who picked up a pass after a Moussa Allah counter-attack, sent in a cross from the left side of the penalty box that was met by a defender and the ball fell straight to Kovel.
Neuer and Kovel also made saves. In the 11th minute, Royce played a long pass to Pilkruk inside the penalty box, and when he received the ball again, he tried to turn it into the right corner of the goal, but Neuer was there to make the save. In the 13th minute of the second half, Kovacs averted a crisis when he got a hand to a low, quick shot from Sane in front of goal.
Munich played with a back three from the midway point of the second half, removing Upamecano for Pavlovic in the 15th minute and leaving only Kim Min-jae at center back.
Dortmund continued to try to shake up the defense, which was left a little loose by Munich’s switch to a back three. In the 22nd minute, substitute Youssouf Moukoko found N’Mecha after a breakaway on the right side of the penalty box, and N’Mecha finished with a mid-range shot that was blocked by Reimer and hit the side netting.
Munich rattled the Dortmund net once again, but it was not to be. In the 25th minute, Kane ran into the back of the defense and received a pass, and instead of finishing himself, Kane laid the ball off to Mkhitaryan in front of goal. Moussaoui found the back of the Dortmund net, but the goal was disallowed as Kane was in an offside position in front of him.
Munich regained control of the attack and Kane was the man to solve the problem. In the 27th minute, Mazurawi sent a low, quick cross from the right side of the penalty box into the center of the box, where Kane calmly finished into the empty space next to Kovacs, despite Kovacs’ advances, to give his team a three-goal lead.
Munich were not satisfied with a three-goal lead. On the counterattack in the 33rd minute, Mkhitaryan, Sane and Coman exchanged passes and found themselves with a chance inside the Dortmund box, but Coman’s shot was blocked by the legs of Schlotterbeck.
Dortmund were unable to capitalize on their chances in the closing stages of the match. In the 41st minute, Xavier blew a free-kick opportunity in front of the Munich goal, and in the 43rd minute, Mukoko’s attempt from inside the penalty box sailed high over the bar.
Munich eventually got their fourth goal of the game when Kane completed his hat trick. In second-half stoppage time, Pavlovic’s fallen pass found Kane darting between the defenses, and he crushed the Dortmund goal with a powerful shot from near the arc of the penalty box.
Kane had scored a hat-trick in the previous league game against Darmstadt, his second consecutive league game with a hat-trick, and the game ended with a 4-0 victory for Munich, thanks to Kane’s hat-trick.
Meanwhile, the Bavarians have a grueling schedule ahead of them, so it’s likely that Kim will continue to play full-time. The Bavarians will travel to Turkic giants Galatasaray for a UEFA Champions League match on March 9, before returning to the Bundesliga to face Heidenheim on March 11 and Cologne on March 25. Then, on Nov. 30, the club welcomes Copenhagen to Denmark for the fifth leg of the Champions League group stage.
On December 2, the Bavarians will play back-to-back Bundesliga games against Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt on December 9, both of which are in the upper mid-tier of the Bundesliga. With a Champions League match against Manchester United on December 13, followed by a Bundesliga match against Stuttgart on December 16, and a match against Wolfsburg on December 19, the team will need to be at its best in order to compete for the league title and top their Champions League group. 아톰카지노 주소
Especially after the December 19 match, there will be a break, and with Kim Min-jae leaving the team on January 12 for the Asian Cup, the team will need to pick up a lot of points by the end of the first half in order to survive without him.
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