Defending champions Bayern Munich had to again depend on Franck Ribery to come to the rescue as they beat Michael Frontzeck’s Arminia Bielefeld 3-1 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday. Ribery scored in the 77th minute, and also won a penalty seven minutes later that assured the German giants of victory.
Jurgen Klinsmann played with a effective 4-5-1 ( could also be a 4-2-3-1), opting not to start with Lukas Podolski. Ze Roberto again played at left back, with Christian Lell on the right hand side. Van Bommel, Ottl, Schweinsteiger, Borowski and Ribery formed the five man midfield, with Klose upfront. It was Klose who gave Bayern the lead, slamming home a right footed shot into the top corner in the 25th minute.
Five minutes later, Bielefeld were back in the match when Martin Demichelis fouled Robert Tesche in the area. Arthur Wichniarek coolly converted the resulting penalty to make it 1-1.
Kroos and Podolski were brought on for Schweinsteiger and Ottl at the interval, but Bayern, despite dominating possession and play, were unable to find a way through Arminia’s defence. It finally fell to Ribery to score Bayern’s second on the break in the 77th minute. And when Rudiger Kauf brought Ribery down seven minutes later, it was all over for Arminia as Podolski beat Eilhoff from the spot.