bayern burst into knockout stages published: wednesday 23 november 2005, 0.44cet
fc bayern münchen 4-0 sk rapid wien
the german champions progressed with an impressive victory against their austrian counterparts.
by andreas alf from fußball arena münchen
fc bayern münchen cruised to the top of uefa champions league group a and into the knockout rounds with an impressive 4-0 demolition of austrian champions sk rapid wien in snowy conditions. makaay double roy makaay finally broke his uefa champions league duck this season with two second-half strikes in quick succession but sebastian deisler, who opened the scoring midway through the opening period, was bayern's inspiration in the absence of the injured michael ballack and mehmet scholl. stand-in playmaker ali karimi was also on target.
early chances bayern's all-out attack failed to materialise initially and rapid, without the suspended andreas dober and the injured axel lawaree and marcin adamski, had the first opportunity of note but steffen hofmann's long-range attempt was deflected wide. bayern's early efforts amounted to a valérien ismaël downward header from a corner that flew askew and a makaay free-kick that missed the target.
deadly deisler bayern upped the tempo thereafter with deisler and zé roberto to the fore. deisler's excellent 40-metre pass found makaay but the striker's ambitious close-range volley sailed over the crossbar. the same players combined to better effect for the breakthrough goal after 21 minutes. makaay rolled the ball into deisler's path along the edge of the penalty area and the midfielder arrowed a brilliantly-measured shot beyond helge payer and into the bottom corner.
bayern denied duly buoyed, bayern took command but failed to add to their lead. ismaël looked set to do so after 30 minutes only for martin demichelis to get in his way as he prepared to head into the net while zé roberto missed a simple chance three minutes later when he nodded wide after makaay had shown great vision and technique to pick him out with a wonderful cross using the outside of his right foot.
pizarro misses further profligacy came from claudio pizarro who flicked and headed wide in quick succession four minutes before the break. the peruvian nodded over two minutes after the restart as bayern continued to dominate. bastian schweinsteiger had been introduced for zé roberto at half-time and the substitute was in the thick of the action after 54 minutes when his mazy run and subsequent shot earned a corner. he delivered the set-piece himself with the ball eluding everybody to fall perfectly for karimi, who controlled on his chest before volleying home.
lahm contribution bayern were sufficiently in the comfort zone to be able to give defender philipp lahm only his second appearance since sustaining a cruciate ligament injury in may, with bixente lizarazu making way after 63 minutes. rapid responded with a rare attack but muhammet akagündüz was well wide with his effort.
makaay makes mark normal service was resumed after 67 minutes but the normally accurate makaay side-footed wide after more good work from schweinsteiger. however, the no10 finally registered his first goal of the campaign after 72 minutes with a composed low finish after being put clear by another sublime schweinsteiger pass.
double delight makaay pounced again five minutes later, rounding payer after being supplied by demichelis. rapid had chances in the final ten minutes through akagündüz and andreas ivanschitz but never looked remotely like picking up a first win in 12 competition matches or even a first point in the group. bayern, meanwhile, lead juventus on goal difference after an imperious performance.
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