Bayern leave Roma in ruins, Schalke leave it late to win
October 21, 2014
Bayern Munich were at their remarkable best on Tuesday night in Italy, as they defeated hosts Roma by a stunning scoreline of 7-1.
After only nine minutes, Arjen Robben cut inside in trademark fashion to curl home a stunning opener. A high-tempo game ensued before Mario Götze finished neatly after a lovely one-two with Thomas Müller on the edge of the area. What followed was nothing short of breathtaking as Pep Guardiola's side moved and manipulated their confused hosts.
Lewandowski headed in his first goal for Bayern in the Champions League two minutes later and then five minutes after that, Robben had his second. Müller calmly converted from the spot ten minutes before the break as Roma fell apart in a style similar to Brazil in their historic 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup.
Bayern in seventh heaven
Being down by such a heavy score at the break meant the hosts were bound to react aggressively. A few heavy challenges later and the game, although over as a contest, had some fire back in it. Gervinho hit the post and then was denied by an astounding close-range save by Manuel Neuer before the Ivorian did score - heading home inside the six-yard box.
Substitute Franck Ribery came on in the final stages of the game and the Frenchman sent a delicious chip over De Sanctis to show he wasn't going to miss out on the action. Three minutes later, another substitute, Xherdan Shaqiri, took advantage of another mistake by Roma's goalkeeper to clip home a historic seventh. Now not only the performance matched Germany's night in Brazil, but so did the scoreline. Bayern top Group E with a perfect record. Roma are now five points adrift in second.
Outstanding Obasi
Schalke started brightly, but found themselves behind after Nani scuffed home from a low corner. The poor condition of the Gelsenkirchen goalmouth might have aided the journey of the ball for Sporting's opener, but Schalke will also have been disappointed with the defending.
A second yellow for Mauricio after a reckless jump into the back of Marco Höger awarded Schalke a lifeline. From the resulting free kick, surprise start Chinedu Obasi headed home the equalizer to the delight of the home crowd. Despite their man advantage though, Schalke were under pressure from Sporting's ten men before the break, but went in level all the same.
It didn't take long in the second half for Schalke to make their man advantage count, though. Julian Draxler played a lovely cross-field ball to Obasi, who slipped in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. The Dutchman fired into the fire corner to complete Schalke's comeback, and give Obasi an assist on top of his goal for the night.
Sporting Silva
Captain Benedikt Höwedes rose to power a header into the back of the net and seemingly set Schalke well on their way to victory. However, a needless tackle by Kaan Ayhan gave Sporting a penalty and Adrien Silva scored to make it 3-2 and make for an exciting final 20 minutes.
Silva was then on hand in the 80th minute to head in a dreaded equalizer. A deep cross caused the Schalke defense to rush forward and, unmarked at the back post, Silva headed home with ease to make it 3-3. What looked like a perfect Champions League start for Roberto Di Matteo looked to have turned sour with Silva's equalizer but there was more drama in store.
Huntelaar's header appeared to hit the head of Jonathan Silva, but the referee awarded a penalty for handball. Controversial or not, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to give Schalke the win they looked to have thrown away. The result leaves them second in Group G with five points from three games.
Elsewhere in Europe
An incredible 40 goals were scored on Tuesday night in the Champions League! Here are the other results:
CSKA Moscow 2-2 Manchester City
APOEL 0-1 PSG
Barcelona 3-1 Ajax
BATE 0-7 Shakhtar
Chelsea 6-0 Maribor
FC Porto 2-1 Ath. Bilbao