De Ligt is invaluable to Bayern with an amazing distance shot


Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 5:22 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 17:31

Matthijs de Ligt played a major part in Bayern Munich’s 0-1 victory at SC Freiburg on Saturday afternoon. The central defender took care of the only goal of the game with a beautiful long shot. Bayern keeps Borussia Dortmund behind with the win. BVB was in turn too strong for 1. FC Union Berlin. Partly due to a goal from Donyell Malen, Edin Terzic’s team triumphed 2-1. For Union, which is still a good third, the championship is getting further and further out of sight.

SC Freiburg v Bayern Munich 0-1
The away team, with Matthijs de Ligt in the base and Daley Blind, Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch on the bench, had to take defensive action after five minutes. Former PSV player Ritsu Doan came in and shifted the game to Vincenzo Grifo, who then saw his shot blocked by Benjamin Pavard. Mark Flek had to take action for the first time after more than ten minutes. The goalkeeper, who played an excellent game, saved Serge Gnabry’s header with excellent reflexes. After another two great saves by Flek, it was Freiburg that came closest to the opening goal shortly before the break.

Michael Gregoritsch held the ball strong as a real point of contact and then passed hard and low towards the far post. That’s where Doan came in, but the winger worked the ball against the post. A few minutes after the break, De Ligt put his team ahead with a phenomenal long shot. The former Ajax player decided to take a shot from more than 25 meters and saw his shot disappear in the top right corner: 0-1. Shortly after that goal, Bayern seemed entitled to a penalty from referee Daniel Siebert. Nicolas Höfler touched the ball with his hand after a tackle in the penalty area, but both Siebert and the VAR thought that was not enough for a penalty.

Twenty minutes before the end, Yann Sommer kept his team going with a great save after a volley from Roland Sallai. Not much later Ryan Gravenberch made his appearance for Thomas Müller. For the midfielder, who had a great chance at 0-2 in injury time, there is still no basic place under Tuchel either. A minute after Gravenberch came in, Leroy Sané seemed to end the game. The winger approached Flek alone, but failed to keep his cool and shot over. Freiburg then tried to force something offensively with offensive substitutions, but did not succeed.

Borussia Dortmund – 1. FC Union Berlin 2-1
BVB, with Malen in the starting line-up, had the better of the game in the first act. The spell was finally broken by Malen in the topper after half an hour. The Dutchman set up the attack himself, after which the ball ended up with Raphaël Guerreiro. The left wing defender gave a tight lead to Malen, who was able to tap the ball in at the far post: 1-0. Sébastien Haller had the perfect opportunity to double the margin just before half-time, but Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow showed his class. The closing post managed to parry a header from close range with a clever reflex.

The visitors had not tested Gregor Kobel once after an hour, but still came alongside. Sheraldo Becker laid wide on Kevin Behrens. The striker therefore had the corner to choose: 1-1. Becker then had the chance to completely turn the game around. Guerreiro managed to keep the attacker from scoring with an extreme tackle. The intervention turned out to be worth gold, as substitute Youssoufa Moukoko reacted alertly ten minutes before the end and tapped the 2-1 against the ropes. Due to the victory, Dortmund keeps the pressure on Bayern. The deficit is two points with seven games to go.

Bayer Leverkusen – Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1
In the duel between Leverkusen and Frankfurt, only one Dutchman appeared at the kick-off with Jeremie Frimpong. Daley Sinkgraven, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Mitchel Bakker started on the bench. They saw how their team took the lead after ten minutes through Amine Adli. The attacker soloed from the center line to the goal and finished in a controlled manner: 1-0. Ten minutes before the break, the score was doubled by Moussa Diaby. The Frenchman was served by Florian Wirtz, created some space and hit diagonally. Frankfurt did something back fifteen minutes before the end via Djibril Sow, but had to bow their heads definitively when Sardar Azmoun made the decision in injury time: 3-1.