A work of art ends the waiting game

The derby against neighbours FC Augsburg was all but over, with only a matter of seconds left on the clock. In the Südkurve, home of the hardcore fans, the Bayern faithful continued to jump up and down incessantly – if for no other reason than with delight at the imminent sixth win in a row. Perhaps also, as they had done across the previous 90 minutes, to keep warm by any means on this freezing November night at the Allianz Arena. FC Bayern had already had 32 attempts at the Augsburg goal and were more than deserving of their 2-0 lead, when Leon Goretzka lofted the ball high into the visitors’ penalty area one last time.

Goal machine contained

For a long time in this beyond one-sided match, in which Bayern spent over 80 percent of the time in possession, the Augsburg low block had managed to somehow screen Munich’s goal machine Harry Kane. And yet, the 31-year-old grabbed his 12th and 13th goals of the Bundesliga season from where nobody could stop him from scoring: the penalty spot.

The goalscorer had already shown his nerves of steel and pin-point accuracy by putting the ball into the top right corner (63’) and converting his second attempt, placing it in the exact opposite position – in the bottom left (90’+1). But what was still missing on this evening at the Allianz was evidence of his extraordinary class, technique, remarkable composure and genius. Kane delivered this all in just one motion. Getting on the end of a fine pass from Goretzka: first, the Englishman plucked the ball out of the air, sending Nediljko Labrovic, who'd made several saves beforehand, in a dejected heap to the turf. He then causally headed the ball into the gaping goal to make the final score 3-0. A brilliant goal, with all the finesse of a rare circus act.

Prior to that, the show in front of 75,000 at the ‘Cirque du Allianz’ for whatever reason had largely consisted of not being able to capitalise on overwhelming superiority, until the 63rd minute that was. “It’s normal for it not to be easy – it’s a Bundesliga game after all,” said FCB head coach Vincent Kompany, attempting an explanation.

From the get-go, his charges dominated the encounter with real maturity, composure and confidence on the ball, against a side sat 13th in the table, whose only concern was to defend every inch in front of their goal come hell or high water. “We knew we had to endure a lot – and we really did,” said Augsburg’s former German international Marius Wolf. “The positive thing is that we didn’t concede much against Bayern, and even when we did it was not the high-quality chances that Bayern are used to having,” said his team-mate Elvis Rexhbecaj.

Augsburg had to suffer

They're not wrong. Augsburg had to suffer and constantly run after Bayern, whose counter-pressing on the rare occassions they lost the ball worked a treat. The defence was so solid that Manuel Neuer's biggest concern between the posts was the biting cold. All that was missing for a long time was a goal. "But we remained patient and continued to show that we wanted to score goals," emphasised Kompany. Bayern tried 13 times before the break. It wasn't until the 22nd attempt on goal from the penalty spot that the Augsburg net was finally pierced. "Augsburg are well organised; they defended deep in their own half and they made life difficult for us," acknowledged the scorer. "We’ve experienced that several times this season, but we stayed calm and simply kept on pushing," added a delighted Kane.

Patience, coolness, belief

“Unfortunately it took a long time before we could score the first goal," summarised Joshua Kimmich, who himself had five attempts on goal – he's not had that many since the meeting with Hamburger SV in September 2016. "But we were without doubt the dominant team throughout the entire game. We didn't give anything away and had several chances." What decided it in the end was the patience of the whole team, the coolness of Kane – and the unwavering belief in the team's strengths. "We knew the spaces would open up at some point," continued Kimmich. His coach added: "When you’re in the penalty area that often, it’s normal that there will be a penalty at some point."

So, the fact that Augsburg unwittingly helped in the end – first with a handball, then a foul – can be seen as a logical consequence. Forced lapses of concentration caused by endless Bayern attacks, which for a long time were going wide of the goal, over the goal, even hitting the crossbar once. And on several occassions, the plucky Augsburg goalkeeper got his finger to the ball.

More shots than in 11-goal game against Zagreb

By the final whistle, the league leaders, who are eight points clear at the top of the league for now, had registered 33 attempts. That's even more than the 29 in the 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb at the start of the Champions League campaign. The very last of those 33, set up by a fine pass from Goretzka, was also the best of the lot. A work of art, if you like, that was more than just a satisying ending.

Harry Kane reached another milestone against Augsburg: