Bayern’s new right-back João Cancelo made a great start in the round of 16 of the cup against 1. FSV Mainz 05. The Portuguese hit the cross for the opening goal that put Munich on the road to victory and into the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup on Wednesday (02/01/23).
Eric Maxim Choupo-Mouting took a well-placed cross from the right in the 17th minute of FC Bayern’s 4-0 (3-0) win in Mainz and thus gave early signs of victory for the record cup winners. Jamal Musiala increased after half an hour, just before the break Leroy Sané scored Munich’s third goal. Substitute Alphonso Davies made it 4-0 deep in the second half (83′).
Kimmich was there from the start – Onisiwo was not affected
The recently injured Joshua Kimmich was able to play from the start, Leon Goretzka returned to the Bayern squad after recovering from muscular problems. At Mainz 05, the two winter buyers Ludovic Ajorque in the center of the attack and Andreas Hanche-Olsen on the right in the defensive line were there from the start. Finn Dahmen was in goal again.
Surprisingly, Karim Onisiwo – most recently a three-time goal scorer in the Bundesliga game against VfL Wolfsburg – was missing from the starting line-up. “Karim has been ill for the past few days. Otherwise, of course, he would have played from the start.”said Bo Svensson on the ARD microphone before the game.
Nagelsmann: “Cancelo can go full throttle”
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann offered access to João Cancelo on the right flank from the start. “He can go full throttle”Nagelsmann said shortly before kick-off on Sky, “João had a very good cross and in Pep (Guardiola) he had one of the best coaches in the world”.
And after a short period of adjustment, the loan from Manchester City showed its qualities: After several successful actions on the ball, the Portuguese served with a cross played from the right under pressure from Choupo-Moting, who volleyed the ball at the level of the second post from a very acute angle with his left artistically in the hosts’ box to make it 0:1.
Bayern do magic and make it 0:3 before the break
Bayern continued to put pressure on Mainz, who courageously held out in the duels, and created chances almost every minute. Thomas Müller directed the ball from a central position with his back to the goal and passed the ball to the left onto Musiala, who after a short dribbling and perfect ball transfer scored the 0:2 with his left flat. And shortly before the break, it was Sané, who was optimally staged by “wall player” Choupo-Moting and gave Dahmen no chance with a well-placed right-footed shot into the left corner.
Mainz did not manage more than relief attacks, the recently struck record champions presented themselves too strong, who after three draws in a row in the league table are only one point ahead of pursuer Union Berlin and two ahead of RB Leipzig.
Mainz stronger in the second half, but without great chances
Mainz coach Svensson had to replace his captain Silvan Widmer, who was threatened by a yellow-red card and handicapped with an adductor injury, and brought fresh strength in the second half with Alexander Hack and Jae-sung Lee.
This had two effects: On the one hand, the superiority of the Munich team dwindled, and they were no longer able to create scoring chances as easily as they could in the first half. Müller stumbled the ball twice, on the other side Caci missed Mainz’s best chance to date when he tried to shoot from the left corner of the penalty area (60′). Ajorque, who made his debut in a committed and conspicuous manner, was also unsuccessful when he had a chance to head the ball (62′).
Twice red against Mainz
As a result, Munich did not play with the consistency and pressure from the first half of the game for a long time, but Mainz failed to set dangerous pinpricks with calm and precision.
After many player changes and a red card drawn by the always sovereign referee Deniz Aytekin against coach Svensson (insult), the Munich team celebrated again: After a buttery chip ball from Joshua Kimmich over the Mainz defense, Davies headed the fourth Bayern goal powerfully from the center of the penalty area. A short time later, Hack saw his second yellow card of the game and was sent off early (86′).
Svensson said after the game: “A very deserved advancement for Bayern. We were clearly inferior in the first half. That was disappointing. We have to be critical about that. But the second half was absolutely fine. At some point I said to the fourth referee: ‘Are you blind? ‘ I shouldn’t say that, but I didn’t use a swear word.”
With the success in Mainz, Bayern managed to liberate themselves from their mini-crisis and made it into the last eight of the cup. The draw for the quarter-finals is on February 19 (5:10 p.m. / ZDF).
Mainz now against Union Berlin
It won’t be any easier for Mainz for the time being: On the next matchday, the 05ers will play second-placed Union Berlin (Saturday, February 4th, 2023, 3.30 p.m.), Bayern will play VfL Wolfsburg one day later (5.30 p.m.).
