Munich Advance
February 8, 2009
Dortmund stunned Bayern with an early goal from Nelson Valdez but the German champions hit back before the break through Ze Roberto, and Miroslav Klose bagged two goals in the last three minutes.
Hoffenheim, who grabbed a late 1-1 draw at bottom-of-the-table Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, have 39 points, with Bayern on 38, Hertha Berlin on 37 and SV Hamburg on 36.
In Bundesliga's other game on Sunday, Feb. 8, Energie Cottbus defeated Hanover 3-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Dimitar Rangelov and a third from Stanislav Angelov to move out of the relegation zone.
Pressure was on Bayern
Bayern, under pressure after being beaten 1-0 at Hamburg last week in the resumption of the Bundesliga after its winter break, were buoyed by Saturday's results in which none of their rivals in the top five could win.
But Juergen Klinsmann's side found themselves behind in the second minute against visiting Dortmund when central defender Martin Demichelis slipped to allow Nelson Valdez a free run on goal that he finished by curling shot past Munich keeper Michael Rensing.
"We had to do more after conceding the early goal and we created enough chances," Klinsmann said. "The team put a lot into the game and the win was more than deserved."
It was one-way traffic for the first 45 minutes as Bayern piled on the pressure and keeper Roman Weidenfeller twice did well to save from Klose. But the keeper was at fault in the 24th minute when he weakly parried a soft shot from Franck Ribery into the path of Ze Roberto who made no mistake from close range.
Klinsi counts on Klose late in game
Juergen Klopp's Dortmund side looked more comfortable after the break, and Rensing was tested by substitute Nuri Sahin before Florian Klinge missed a glorious opportunity when he headed wide in the 62nd minute.
Klinsmann had replaced Bastian Schweinsteiger with Hamit Altintop and brought on US striker Landon Donovan for an unhappy Luca Toni in a double substitution with 18 minutes remaining.
The decision to keep Klose on rather than Toni paid off when Dortmund defender Felipe Santana headed a long ball from Mark van Bommel into the Germany striker's path and this time he made sure by putting the ball through Weidenfeller's legs.
With Dortmund's resistance broken, Klose struck again with 90 minutes gone when Ribery again danced down the left and put the ball across the goalmouth for the striker to do the rest.
"A game lasts 90 minutes and you just have to forget things," Klose said of the missed chances before scoring. "I always believe I will take my chance and know that the next opportunity will come along. I scored two goals but the important thing today was to win."