It was the crowning moment of a perfect start to the second half of the season for FC Bayern at Leverkusen. The game was in added time, the ball was set up for a free kick in a central position just outside Bernd Leno’s box. James Rodríguez took one step and, with great finesse, curled the ball over the wall into the top corner to round off the scoring at 3-1.
“The free kick was fantastic,”declared an enthusiastic Jupp Heynckes after the match. “You can see he’s in a class of his own and that’s obviously outstanding,” said Leverkusen’s Sven Bender, who was only able to stop James by fouling him, in showing his admiration for the Colombian. The goalscorer himself modestly declared the strike to be “a good goal.”
Great lad and world class player
This wonder strike was the icing on the cake in a quality performance for the 26-year-old. The top scorer at the 2014 World Cup had the most number of touches of all the players on Friday night (91), winning an impressive 61 per cent of challenges and he had the highest number of successful passes of all the Bayern players with over 90 per cent finding their target. He was also involved in six shots on goal – equal with Arturo Vidal – and provided the assist for Franck Ribéry to make it 2-0 with an incisive diagonal ball.
“He’s a great lad and a world class player,” enthused Rafinha in praising James who carried on at Leverkusen where he left off at start of the winter break. The attacking midfielder again clearly demonstrated he has made his mark at FC Bayern. “Bayern are a top club. I’ve not been here long but I’m very happy. I really like it here,” said the new signing from the summer. James will definitely make everyone at Bayern happy with goals like that one.
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