New Delhi: If Oktoberfest alone wasn’t enough to bring a celebratory mood inside Bayern Munich, the 5-1 thrashing of TSG Hoffenheim on Monday would certainly bring a smile to manager Alexander Straus & Co., who have already opened up a two-point gap on the top of the table after just three matches in the 2024/25 Women’s Bundesliga.
Things were far from rosy in the beginning however, as Hoffenheim broke the deadlock first with a picture-perfect strike from forward Selina Cerci. However, the hosts managed to turn the tie with just three minutes till halftime, starting with a contentious handball decision awarding the hosts a penalty, which was duly converted by Georgia Stanway. Pernille Harder scored the first of her three goals on the stroke of half-time with a bullet header from a corner.
Hoffenheim showed glimpses of resistance, but were uncertain in possession and porous on the counter, especially when Harder punished them in the 57th minute. She completed her treble with a simple tap-in, before substitute Sydney Lohmann scored with the last action of the tie.
Bayern entered the third week of league proceedings on the back on a 41-match long winning streak, with a win sending them back to the top of the table. Further, the hosts pulled off the double on Hoffenheim last season, whose last recorded victory over the Bavarians was all the way back in 2021. Morale at the visitors’ ranks would’ve surely been affected from the shock defeat in their derby against Freiburg last week.
For the first 10 minutes, spectators betting on a Bayern victory would’ve been feeling chuffed, with the hosts racking up almost three-quarters of possession in no time. However, like their arch-rivals at Wolfsburg, the opposing keeper was left unperturbed with the lack of chances generated from the home side, with Hoffenheim stolid in defence and wary of leaving even an inch of space to the glittering array of Bayern forwards.
MUNICH, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 23: Selina Cerci’s goal was a rare highlight for Hoffenheim in their drubbing at Bayern. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images for DFB)
They reaped their rewards in the 28th minute, when forward Gia Corley won the ball in the middle third and released Cerci on the left flank. Corley immediately darted inside the Bayern box, which opened up the space for Cerci to cut on her right foot and send her curling effort hit the right post, before nestling into the net for a dream goal. An uppercut of a goal from a near-impossible angle left the hosts dazed, with red shirts committing needless fouls and explicitly expressing their frustrations in the following minutes.
Hoffenheim were probably dreaming of sweet revenge and emulating Freiburg from last week, but Georgia Stanway decided to turn up. First, she drove through the heart of Hoffenheim’s midfield in the 37th minute, her shot from the edge of the box too harmless to trouble Hoffenheim keeper Laura-Johanna Dick. The visitors were close to scoring against the run of play again, when Corley received a square pass at the near post, only for Bayern skipper Glodis Perla Viggosdottir to block her close-range shot.
Bayern were clearly in full-swing, but the nature of the equalizer would’ve still stung the hosts. The ball from a Bayern corner bumbled over Hoffenheim centerhalf Marta Cazalla’s arms as she leaped to win an aerial duel. Protests and anxiety over an upset were both silenced when Stanway’s penalty rocked the bottom-right corner of Hoffenheim’s net, a gavel that sealed the visitors’ fate. The confirmation was delivered by Pernille Harder from a corner just minutes later, ghosting at the far post and sending her bullet header into the back of the net.
MUNICH, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 23: Harder’s hattrick proves her class even in third-act of a glorious career. (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images for DFB)
Bayern were in no mood to start the second half like they did the first, and were at Hoffenheim’s throat in just two minutes. Forward Jovana Damnjanovic turned her marker with ease before driving down the right channel. Dick barely got her fingertips on the resultant floated cross, and forward Klara Bühl should’ve scored from close-range if not for an inch-perfect goalline clearance from Jana Feldkamp. Dick then responded with a phenomenal recovery save of her own, denying Bühl on the followup.
Fate was, however, far too impatient in face of Hoffenheim’s resistance, who lost the ball in buildup and suddenly discovered the disadvantages of playing with a high defensive line. Harder led the counter, and despite Damnjanovic making a run into the right-hand channel, placed her shot from the edge of the box, with Dick poor in her reaction time and give the hosts a two-goal cushion.
Except for a 61st minute chance for Dongus, who trashed her effort from close-range, Bayern dominated the proceedings, both on and off the ball. With weariness settling in both camps, substitutions revived Bayern’s attacking menace. Forward Lea Schüller was almost through on goal if not for Dick rushing out to smother her chipped effort. A few minutes later, she was left ruing when Bayern’s counter attack saw Schüller square it to Harder who simply tapped-in home from close-range.
The demolition crew was far from done, when Schüller led a counter-attack in the last minute of the match, finding Lohmann in the left half-space, who almost teased Dick by delaying the inevitabled death-blow. The sound of the ball rustling the net was closely followed by roars of triumph and the full-time whistle.
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