Perfect ten for Bayern after victory over CSKA
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
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PFC CSKA Moskva 1-3 FC Bayern München
Arjen Robben set the holders and Group D leaders en route to a record tenth successive UEFA Champions League win.
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FC Bayern München made history as they became the first club to register ten consecutive UEFA Champions League victories – breaking the record they shared with the FC Barcelona class of 2002/03 – following a 3-1 win at PFC CSKA Moskva.
In spite of their positive start, the Army Men were overwhelmed by an authoritative performance from the holders. Beautifully taken goals from Arjen Robben and Mario Götze either side of half-time put Josep Guardiola's team in control of the Group D contest. Keisuke Honda's 62nd-minute penalty gave CSKA a glimmer of hope, optimism which was extinguished when Thomas Müller converted a spot kick of his own soon after.
CSKA began well, placing the visitors under pressure early on, with Bayern having Dante to thank on two occasions for keeping the score level. First, he deflected Zoran Tošić’s low shot wide and then, after ten minutes, cleared Sergei Ignashevich's header off the line from Honda's corner.
Already qualified Bayern were stunned into action and their response on 17 minutes was emphatic. Müller broke down the left and pulled the ball back to Robben, who slammed a left-footed drive inside Igor Akinfeev's near post.
Bayern were now dominating as third-placed CSKA struggled to retain possession in their opponents' half. Honda was the one bright spot for the hosts and his intelligent ball to Ahmed Musa put the striker through on goal, but he was crowded out and could only manage a weak attempt.
Honda himself had a great chance to equalise early in the second half. With just Manuel Neuer to beat, he tried to round the goalkeeper. The Germany No1, however, was alert to the danger and did brilliantly to stretch out a right hand to preserve Bayern's narrow advantage.
The German Bundesliga leaders doubled their lead on 56 minutes courtesy of a superb individual effort by Götze. The playmaker weaved his way through the CSKA defence, leaving Ignashevich and Aleksei Berezutski in his wake before slotting the ball into the right-hand corner of the net.
Leonid Slutski's men received a lifeline when Honda scored after Dante handled in the area. However, within three minutes Bayern had restored their two-goal cushion, Müller sending Akinfeev the wrong way following Georgi Schennikov's foul on Robben. Tošić threatened to reduce the deficit again, but his shot from the edge of the box came back off the crossbar.