The German Giants Cruise Past 10-Man Shakhtar
Bayern Munich 7 : 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayern Munich 7 : 0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayern Munich made quick work of Shakhtar Donetsk at their fortress in Bavaria, strolling away with a convincing 7-0 win after criticism over their 0-0 draw in Ukraine during the first leg. In doing so, they take one more step towards the final in the German capital, Berlin.
The visitors were not off to a good start, going down to ten men within the first three minutes of the game. Kucher was given his controversial marching orders after bringing down Gotze in the box on Bayern’s first run of the match. The video replay showed that there was minimal contact with the German, if any, and that Kucher was arguably in line with his back-four. Regardless, Bayern Munich were up 1-0 with an easy penalty for Muller and Shakhtar had a long 87 minutes ahead.
Shakhtar attempted to patch up their defense by pulling Taison, a crucial component to their side in the first leg, and bringing on a defender. Their makeshift backline lasted up to the 34th minute when center-back Boateng got on the end of a blocked shot and put his side 2-0 up. The goal was a long time coming and the visitors had held on bravely but Bayern’s attacking players, plus some defensive players coming forward, overwhelmed them and they were easily ahead.
In the second half, Shakhtar were simply outplayed. Frazzled and fatigued, the Ukrainians collapsed as Ribery netted an easy one off of a good one-two with Alaba in the 49th minute followed by Muller’s goal into an empty net in two minutes later. After a long spell out with injury, Holger Badstuber was thrilled to find the back of the net with his powerful header in the 63rd minute as Bayern continued to gain momentum.
Shakhtar had fallen to pieces when Lewandowski netted his goal in the 75th minute and Mario Gotze, who had been crucial in all of the goals scored on the night, got a reward for all of his hard work, topping off Bayern’s night with a seventh goal.
While Shakhtar were unlucky in the opening minutes, it is unlikely that with all eleven men they would have been able to hold off the incredible Bayern Munich at home. Domestically, the Bavarians top the table by a jaw-dropping eleven points and are showing form that will be good enough to secure them a spot in the Champions League final in Berlin if they can maintain their dominance.
