DFB Pokal Review: Kane and Bayern crush Wiesbaden’s dream | OneFootball

Bayern were knocked out of the cup before the semi-final stages in each of the last five seasons, but they started those campaigns with comfortable wins and clean sheets. And, they were also on the front foot from the first whistle here. Luis Diaz, who scored in the Supercup and his Bundesliga debut, had a great chance after 10 seconds.

For their credit, the 3. Liga still managed to create some promising attacks against the Rekordmeister after the early chance. Bayern’s first goal came from yet another composed penalty-kick by Harry Kane in the 16th minute, but it should’ve been a bit earlier.

Jordy Gillekens touched the ball with his hands twice inside the box, but Daniel Siebert gave a free-kick for the hosts for a supposed foul afterwards. When Ryan Johansson pulled down Sacha Boey minutes later, the referee pointed to the spot. With no VAR in the first round of Pokal, both decisions had to be made on the spot.

In the 20th minute, Diaz was thwarted by Florian Stritzel once again from extending his goal-scoring run. Five minutes later, the Colombian winger finally beat the goalkeeper, but he was still denied by a combined last-ditch block from Justin Janitzek and Gillekens.

Stritzel made another superb save from Raphael Guerreiro’s shot after the half-hour mark. Diaz’s unsuccessful bicycle kick was the next big action before Wiesbaden’s two strikers squandered a rare opportunity. Nikolas Agrafiotis failed to test Jonas Urbig after Min-jae Kim blocked Fatih Kaya’s initial attempt.

There was another debatable incident five minutes after the break, but Siebert decided against giving a penalty-kick for the third-tier team. A minute later, Bayern extended their lead through Michael Olise following some slick football.

The visitors were in full control after that as Guerreiro’s goal was disallowed for offside, and Stritzel made another super save from Diaz. The former Liverpool player didn’t stop there as he blasted it wide from a one-on-one with his detractor.

On the other side, Kaya only needed two chances to have his name on the scoresheet. The captain provided a stunning finish from an inviting cross by Niklas May as the hosts got into the game out of the blue. After not conceding a goal from an open play in the last ten first round Pokal ties, Bayern were suddenly exposed by the relentless Kaya.

The 25-year-old leveled the score with a composed finish to beat Urbig the second time. Wiesbaden scored two or more goals for the fourth time in as many games this season, but the big news was that they came from two goals behind against the Bundesliga powerhouse.

Despite his two goals, Kaya wasn’t the “Man of the Match”, however. Wiesbaden showed great fight to block consecutive shots from substitute Serge Gnabry and Kane, but that move resulted in a second penalty-kick for Bayern.

Having scored each of his first 22 penalties in Bayern colors – including one in the first-half – no one expected a different outcome when the England captain prepared to take it. However, Stritzel not only saved the penalty, but he also made sure that Kane would not convert the rebound before Janitzek finally cleared the ball from Wiesbaden’s box.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper also denied Olise from scoring a trademark goal before Diaz had another blunder on his miserable Pokal debut. However, Bayern still managed to find a way in the 94th minute as Kane heads home Gnabry’s cross. It has been a remarkable round of Pokal action, but Werder Bremen are the only Bundesliga side to get eliminated.