Bayern Munich traveled to Mainz on Bundesliga matchday 21 and strong-armed their way to a victory thanks to a noticeably more confident defense.
Bayern Munich go on to extend their lead atop the table to a whopping 18 points, while only 21 matches into this Bundesliga campaign. To make things even sweeter, the Bavarian giants finally earned a clean sheet for their efforts, after several recent frustrating fixtures without one.
However, this victory wouldn’t go without any significant challenge. Despite their struggling position in the table, Mainz played their hearts out with the strength of their home turf. In the end though, Mainz would have to go on being shut out.
Mainz press high early on
A solid chunk of the first-half of the match went on fairly contested. Bayern Munich didn’t necessarily have the overwhelming and completely seamless control in possession and had to absorb some pressure. Mainz played mostly to the underdogs rule-book when taking on Bayern.
From the off, Mainz pressed high up the pitch, constantly running at the Bayern backline. They made their best efforts testing the back four, trying to make them as uncomfortable as possible. As expected, they worked to make their most promising runs by trying to hit Bayern on the counter-attack.
But unfortunately for Mainz, their tenacious play only lasted so far. The home side finally lost a bit of crucial focus on a corner-kick shortly after the half-hour mark. A scuffed attempt at a clearance gracefully made its way to well-positioned Franck Ribery. The veteran Frenchman fired a first-time laser that hammered its way into Robin Zentner’s goal, leaving the keeper rooted to his spot.
Mainz’s woes would continue shortly after. Just about a minute-and-a-half before the end of the half, another bit of magic from James Rodriguez would double the visitors lead. Corentin Tolisso picked up the ball and launched a beautifully placed cross-field pass to James. The Colombian chested the ball down exquisitely and fired a drilling volley, leaving Robin Zentner clawing at the near-post to no avail.
Bayern bitterly miss out on extending the lead in the second half
The second half saw Bayern Munich open up and display some fast-flowing plays. The Bavarian offensive contingent played with wonderful fluidity, running rampant all over their hosts. However, they narrowly failed to capitalize on those opportunities.
Sandro Wagner was released early on to unleash a left-footed strike forcing a great save out of Zentner. Later on, a hectic scene of chances in the Mainz penalty area resulted in Wagner once again just missing out on that finishing touch to make it two goals in two games.
Mainz wouldn’t go on without creating any more threats though. A mistake from Sven Ulreich led to a fantastic piece of play between Giulio Donati and Robin Quaison, forcing an instinctive save out of Ulreich. Almost 74 minutes in, Quaison nearly pulled one back again, narrowly missing out on Ulreich’s far-post.
Thankfully, Bayern’s defense saw out the rest of the match. Jerome Boateng had a solid game, making some important clearances, blocks, interceptions, etc. However, the rightful hero of the back four was truly Mats Hummels. His performance makes a strong case for why he is one of the best center-backs in Europe.
Bayern look ahead to important fixtures
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With a 2-0 win locked up, and an important clean sheet in stow, Bayern stretch to 18 points clear atop the Bundesliga table. Bayern Munich now have a crucial knockout match midweek against Paderborn in the DFB Cup to look forward to. Ideally, Bayern will look at this defensive performance as a hallmark of what they should be improving on.