The Wolfsburg v Bayern game was always going to be a classic. However, none who sat down to watch the game could have anticipated what was to follow. The home sides 5-1 victory was an act of deconstruction topped off by a moment of sporting genius.
Christian Geltner got things kicked off before Luca Toni equalised. With the scores level at half time, there was still very little indication as to what was to follow. Then came a fifteen minute period of madness which ended four goals in the back of the Bayern net. The last of those goals is now being celebrated by the whole German footballing nation.
It is the 76th minute and the score is 4-1 to Wolfsburg. Bayern are in an advanced position trying to get something from the game by way of consolation in that typically committed yet bumbling way that teams do when they're being thrashed.
Zvjezdan Misimovic takes possession of the ball in the centre circle and spots Grafite on a run ahead of him and to the left. The man in the full back position is Andreas Ottl who had only been on the pitch for ten minutes. Misimovic passes the ball straight to Grafite with the kind of accuracy that would be the envy of a US missile targeting system.
At pace, Grafite has the ball and heads straight for the penalty box. Ottl is pursuing and is joined by his team mate Christian Lell. They try to double team him but Grafite is too quick and frankly, to smart for them. He cuts inside, bisecting the Bayern duo about seven yards from the goal. The keeper Michael Rensing tries to intervene by diving at the ball and tipping it off the tips of Grafite's toes. He is too slow and the striker pushes the ball beyond Rensing's reach leaving the big man sprwling on the floor. Seeing what is about to transpire, Ottl heads towards the goal line. Meanwhile Breno also anticipates a shot and moves into a likely position for a block. Grafite is still facing the far touch line, sideways on to the goal. Phillip Lahm is a whisker away and ready to make a tackle. Rather than turn and shoot, Grafite improvises with a back heel which sedately passes the wrong footed Ottl and bounces off the outstretched boot of Breno into the back of the net. The ball moves slowly enough to entice Ottl into a desperate lunge at it to no avail. He ends up in the goal mouth on his backside with a look of a man who has just seen a puppy dog skinned alive.
The commentator for the English language feed is Gary Preston. A man who tends to trip over his words when he gets excited. This is how it happened according to him:
"So this is the room I was talking about... Grafite... still Grafite, tying knots in the complete defence. Briliant stuff... Ooooh it's gone in for the goal of the season! What a goal! I'm gonna do a Brazilian one here now... GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!"
Not exactly Herbert Zimmermann however a few seconds later he described Grafite's strike as the "goal of the year" which seemed to be catching on in various posts on Youtube before the clip was taken down and sold to the Sun.Steve McManaman on Setenta Sports last Monday described it as the kind of goal you'd only try if you were 4-1 up. That was a bit uncharitable, albeit true. However, its worth bearing in mind that the goal was scored against Bayern Munich. That's Champions League quarter finalists Bayern Munich. Also, the goal should be seen as the defining moment of a team performance that had reduced the champions of Germany to rubble. For that reason alone it will probably be remembered as one of the greatest goal ever scored in the Bundesliga and rightly so.
For the record, that was Grafite's second goal. The other two were scored by Edin Dzeko. Wolfsburg are now top after 8 straight wins. Hertha dropped to third after losing 3-1 at home in front of a rare capacity crowd by Dortmund. Hamburg are second thanks to a hard fought win over the Hoff. Bayern are fourth and currently out of the Champions League qualifying spot. However, there is still only three points between the top four so it's far from over.
Elsewhere, Koln and Leverkusen met for a big derby game which resulted, finally, in a win for Bayer. Schalke seem to be doing quite well without a general manager or coach. they beat Bielefeld 2-0. Stuttgart's impressive march up the table continued with a good result at Bochum. Frankfurt are staying out of trouble thanks to a 2-1 win over Cottbus. Hannover's disgraceful away record continued at the Weserstadion and are only three points away from the third from bottom spot, a place occupied by 'Gladbach. The Foals traveled to bottom club Karlsruhe for a sechs punkter. Alas, for both clubs, a 0-0 draw was the outcome, the only scoreless game of the weekend.
That's it. I'm off for a lie down. Results and table are here. Grafite's goal is here.
Posts
