Bayern Munich captain Oliver Kahn admitted he was relieved at surviving a Hansa Rostock fightback as the German giants came away with a 2-1 win on Friday to open a three-point gap at the top of the Bundesliga.
This was the first German league game of the year after the six-week winter break and Bayern looked to be cruising having built a 2-0 halftime lead courtesy of goals from Franck Ribery and Luca Toni.
But Kahn's side made a nervous start to the second half as their defense leaked an early goal.
PHOTO: AP
"It was clear to us that it would become a combative game, as it proved early in the second half," Kahn said. "But we successfully shut them out and expectations on us are as high as always. In the first half, we showed we can deal with the pressure. It's always important to win your first game back after the winter break."
Having beaten Hansa 3-0 on the opening weekend of the season last August, Bayern struggled in the run-up to the winter break with two lifeless 0-0 draws against mid-table sides and had seen their six-point lead in October evaporate by last month.
But Bayern had their French midfield star Ribery to thank when he put them ahead by converting Ze Roberto's cross to beat Hansa goalkeeper Stefan Waechter on ten minutes.
PHOTO: AP
Toni and Miroslav Klose then both narrowly missed the target.
Italian World Cup winner Toni bagged his tenth league goal of the season -- and his 19th in all competitions for Bayern this season -- when he latched onto defender Willy Sagnol's pass and made it 2-0 on 42 minutes.
But Hansa pulled one back after the break when striker Enrico Kern broke down the right flank.
His shot beat Kahn, but not the post.
Christian Rahn then smashed the rebound onto the crossbar before Kern made no mistake with his second attempt on 52 minutes.
Hansa had the chance to draw level moments later when only a superb tackle from Ze Roberto denied midfielder Fin Bartels a clear shot on goal.
Toni then squandered a chance to put the game beyond doubt 10 minutes from time when he powered his way through the defense, but smashed his shot over the bar.
Bayern's win now puts pressure on their main title rivals, Werder Bremen, to pick up a win at home to strugglers VfL Bochum.
‘DEVASTATED’: Argentina’s win was a reversal of their 28-24 defeat last week, with Australian forward Fraser McReight adding that ‘we did the same thing last week’ Argentina flyhalf Santiago Carreras punished an undisciplined Australia with 23 points off the tee as the Pumas held on grimly for a 28-26 win in Sydney yesterday to breathe new life into their Rugby Championship campaign. A try-fest beckoned in afternoon sunshine at Sydney Football Stadium, but Argentina needed only one through captain Julian Montoya, with Carreras doing the damage with seven penalties and a conversion in front of a sell-out crowd. A week after letting a 14-point lead slip in a 28-24 defeat to Australia in Townsville, Argentina saw most of a 21-point advantage erased in the final quarter as the
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
Captain Vijay Kumar led the way yesterday as the Hsinchu Titans claimed the Taiwan Premier League title at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), beating PCCT by 27 runs. The weather was a topic again, but not the rain that played a role in previous matches in the often-delayed tournament. Kumar, who made 80 not out from 63 deliveries, and teammate Vishwajit Kumar (58 from 43) rescued the Titans from a precarious state at the end of the power play in the T20 match. The visitors were put in to bat and struggled to 26-3 as PCCT
China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper on Monday published an essay about Chinese basketball it said was written by LeBron James, but a representative for the NBA star said on Thursday that the article was based on a series of interviews. The paper, better known as the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, had said James authored the essay, “Basketball is a Bridge that Connects Us,” a tribute to Chinese players and fans of the sport written in the first person. “LeBron James Pens an Article in the People’s Daily,” read a post published on the newspaper’s official WeChat account. On Thursday, a representative
RSS