Bayern win in a festival of penalties and own goals

You can’t play football and expect a good result—especially not against Bayern—if you put the ball into your own net twice in ways that defy common sense. The Bavarians are powerful enough without anyone’s help. When you gift them two goals and, on top of that, are forced to chase them both times because of your own mistakes, it becomes pointless to talk about tactics, belief, a plan, or energy. Tonight, Union were their own worst enemy. Against Bayern, you can’t afford even the smallest mistake—let alone scoring two own goals in the same match. And yet that is exactly what Union did. Had they not, the final result and the 2–3 (1–3) defeat would surely have looked different—and even this kind of loss is almost respectable, considering what kind of footballing disasters they scripted for themselves on Wednesday evening.

The Bavarians took the lead as early as the 12th minute, when Ilyas Ansah reacted completely clumsily after a cross, sending the ball behind his own goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow. After the corner, the Norwegian deflected the ball—but straight off his teammate’s knee, who was far too slow to realize what could happen, and the ball ended up in Union’s net. Even Bayern did not expect such early relief. Still, the second blow was not long in coming: in the 24th minute, Joshua Kimmich curled in a perfect corner, and Harry Kane routinely headed it in for 0–2.

Union came back to life just a minute later. A penalty caused by Bayern’s defense was converted by Leopold Querfeld. The impression, however, was that the penalty was awarded far too harshly, as Jonathan Tah was pulling his arm away from the ball; it hit him while he was already trying to tuck it behind his back, and the slight contact with the former Leverkusen defender’s arm had no real impact on the goal-scoring chance.

The crowd woke up, the pitch came alive, and it seemed like the team was coming back… but then came another shock. In first-half stoppage time, in the 45+4 minute, Diogo Leite reacted completely wrong in a crowded goalmouth and hammered the ball into his own net for 1–3. Union’s second own goal, a second emotional knockout, and the second time they complicated their own lives. There is no rational explanation for the foolish way Leite smashed the ball into his own team’s net.

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And as if all that weren’t strange enough, Union scored again in the 55th minute—once more from the penalty spot, once more through Querfeld. This time the tragic figure on the other side was Harry Kane, who carelessly brought down Diogo Leite in the penalty area. Union then went in search of an equalizer and tried to threaten, but after so many mistakes, there is no tactic or energy that can conjure a miracle. Bayern stood firm, withstood the pressure, and routinely saw the match out.

GERMAN CUP - DFB POKAL

Round of 16

Tuesday

Hertha - Kaiserslautern 6-1 (3-1)

/Schuler 5, 60, Winkler 20, Eichhorn 31, Kownacki 75, Krattenmacher 80 - Ritter/

Monchengladbach - St. Pauli 1-2 (0-1)

/Tabakovic 56 - Kaars 43, Oppie 83/

Dortmund - Leverkusen 0-1 (0-1)

/Maza 34/

RB Leipzig - Magdeburg 3-1 (2-1)

/Nusa 19, Baumgartner 29, 54 - Gnaka 11 pen/

Wednesday

Bochum - Stuttgart 0-2 (0-1)

/Strompf 12(og), Undav 47/

Freiburg - Darmstadt 2-0 (1-0)

/Grifo 42(p), Holer 69/

Hamburger - Holstein Kiel (0-0)

Union Berlin - Bayern 2-3 (1.30)

/Querfeld 40(p), 55(p) - Ansah (og) 12, Kane 24, Leite 45+5(og)/