Joao Cancelo’s ‘simple’ arrival hours before the market closed has transformed Bayern Munich. Barely a day after closing his loan from Manchester City, the Portuguese winger made his debut and ended the crisis of the Bavarian team, which reached the semifinals of the DFB Pokal with a resounding 0-4 defeat at Mainz.
Cancelo’s presence led Julian Nagelsmann to change his system and start playing with three centre-backs, as Benjamin Pavard started to play in the backbone with Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt, while the Portuguese played winger in right
Cancelo’s impact on Bayern’s game was immediate. After goalkeeper Finn Dahmen thwarted a clear chance from Kingsley Coman (7′), the new Bavarian acquisition entered his side and hit a good cross against former Spanish player Aarón Martín and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting hits a volley at the far post, with a very small {angle, which surprises Dahmen (17′).
Choupo-Moting already has 13 goals
The Cameroonian, key this season after the departure of Robert Lewnadowski, scored his 13th goal in all competitions.
Bayern, very focused, completely dominated Mainz, giving an image of stability after harvesting three consecutive 1-1 Bundesliga wins since the beginning of 2023.
In fact, he scored more than one goal for the first time this year when, after half an hour, Jamal Musiala received from Thomas Müller on the left and, after changing the ball at his feet, nailed a cross shot with his left foot hit the post before reaching the net.
The Caneroonian assisted Sané in the 0-3
Joshua Kimmich made it 0-3 with a free-kick at the base of the post and so did De Ligt by shooting high in an unbeatable position, but before the break Leroy Sané got the upper hand of Munich another goal by leaving him alone with Choupo-Moting with an acrobatic pass.
In the second half, Bayern lived on rents, thought about their clear advantage and even so, defender Alexander Hack avoided Thomas Müller’s 0-4 when the ball slipped.
Bayern lives on profit
Bo Svensson made three changes at half-time and his team continued to win, outpacing the attack but Bayern’s only concession was a shot from Anthony Caci that narrowly missed the post (59′).
In the dying stages, with everything decided and Bo Svensson seeing red for protesting, Alphonso Davies made it 0-4 by heading in a cross from Kimmich. Mainz finished with ten when Hack saw a second yellow for a foul on Musiala.
MAINZ
04
BAYERN MUNICH
Mainz: Dahmen; Hanche-Olsen, Edmilson Fernandes, Caci; Widmer (Danny da Costa, 46′), Leandro Martins (Jae-sung Lee, 46′), Kohr, Aarón Martín (Hack, 46′); Barkok, Stach (Ingvartsson, 67′); Anklet (Onisiwo, 67′)
The
Bayern Munich: Sommer; Pavard, Upamecano (Blind, 64′), De Ligt; Cancelo (Davies, 71′), Leroy Sané (Goretzka, 71′), Kimmich, Musiala, Coman; Thomas Muller (Gravenberch, 64′), Choupo-Moting (Gnabry, 79′)
Goals: 0-1, Choupo-Moting (17′); 0-2, Musiala (30′); 0-3, Leroy Sané (44′); 0-4, Davies (83′)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin. Red for Hack (49′ and 86′) and yellow for Widmer (24′) and Thomas Müller (38′)
Spectators: 33,305 at MEWA Arena
see the match sheet
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
