On matchday 10 of the Bundesliga four weeks ago, Bayern Munich were held 2-2 by an impressive Union Berlin side at the Alten Forsterei Stadium. These two sides met again on Wednesday in the round of 16 clash of the DFB Pokal.
Bayern were troubled by Union Berlin once again. However, Die Roten were able to exact some measure of revenge as they managed to edge the host team 2-3 and advance to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Since the 2-2 draw with Union Berlin back in early November, Bayern have not been all that impressive despite suffering just a single loss in the four subsequent games. Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some interesting takeaways from Wednesday’s victory.
The Bayern funk continues
As painful as it is to admit, Bayern Munich escaped to victory from Berlin. Even after Harry Kane headed in a corner from Joshua Kimmich to put Bayern 2-0 in front after 24 minutes, Union Berlin never looked like crumbling.
VAR intervention threw the home team a lifeline when Jonathan Tah was adjudged to have used an arm to play the ball back to Manuel Neuer. Union Berlin’s Austrian center-back Leopold Querfeld scored with the ensuing penalty kick to halve the deficit before the break.
Early in the second half Union Berlin were undone by an own goal for the second time in the match, and Bayern once again had a two-goal cushion with the score at 3-1. However, that goal only managed to spur on the home team. After Querfeld reduced the deficit to 3-2 with another spot kick, Union Berlin were by far the better team for the remainder of the game. Bayern looked tired as they desperately held on for the win.