Bayern justify their luck against CFR

A pair of own goals helped FC Bayern München move to within touching distance of the knockout stages, but Philipp Lahm told UEFA.com the Group E leaders' 3-2 defeat of CFR 1907 Cluj was not purely the fruit of good fortune.

Though CFR captain Cadú opened the scoring for the visitors at the Fußball Arena München, the Romanian side's dreams of ruining Bayern's perfect start to the campaign were cruelly undermined before the break. Cadú and Cristian Panin put through their own goal to turn the game around, handing last season's runners-up a half-time advantage they rarely looked like relinquishing.

"We haven't had much luck in recent weeks but sometimes when you work hard, luck is on your side, and that was the case today," said full-back Lahm, whose team have stuttered in domestic competition and toiled for almost half-an-hour to break down a well-drilled CFR defence. "There are no easy opponents in the Champions League. Cluj had beaten Basel so we knew they were going to be dangerous, and they showed that again over the 90 minutes."

Had Lacina Traoré's shot in the dying seconds of the opening period found the net rather than a post, the outcome might have been different. The fates, however, were decidedly in Bayern's favour as CFR then completed an unwanted hat-trick of unfortunate goals when Felice Piccolo's attempted clearance ricocheted into the net off Mario Gómez.

"Perhaps we have to thank our opponents because they gifted us two goals, perhaps even three, but that's not important. Only the three points count for us," said centre-forward Gómez, whose strike ultimately proved decisive after Juan Culio reduced CFR's deficit four minutes from time. "The goals were lucky, but not the victory. I think we were the better side throughout. Cluj had two or three good chances, but we deserved to win."

The success lifted Bayern six points clear at the top of the section, and a repeat result in Romania on 3 November will assure Louis van Gaal's men of a place in the knockout rounds with two games to spare. "We want to go to Cluj and try to finish it off, though that's not going to be easy," said Lahm, who helped Bayern stretch their unbeaten series against Romanian opposition to seven matches. "We have nine points, we still need three more. I think we're in the perfect position."