During their 4-1 win in Cologne, FC Bayern came under pressure, at least for a while. This did not sit well with assistant coach Aaron Danks in particular.
Max Eberl already had his first headline for FC Bayern’s performance in Cologne (4-1) in mind shortly after 9 p.m. on Wednesday evening. “Harry Kane in crisis,” wrote the sporting director in his imaginary notebook, because Harry Kane, completely uncharacteristically, had headed the ball twice at the goal and not into it. And “because he didn’t score against Gladbach either,” Eberl added.
Kane demonstrated why the Bayern official only made it to a board position and not a career as a reporter about fifteen minutes later when he slipped away behind Eric Martel, caught the ball in front of Ron-Robert Zieler, and scored with his supposedly weaker left foot. “One of my favorite goals,” Kane explained afterwards on ESPN. “A mix of good finishing, technique, instinct.”
Within three minutes, Kane and Bayern had recovered from a “chaotic first half hour” and “regained control before halftime,” as Kane put it. The quick reaction was certainly necessary, as the league leaders, who had not dropped a point so far, had been looking very shaky up to that point – especially, and ironically, from set pieces. A corner from Jakub Kaminski in the eleventh minute created the first big chance for Isak Johanesson, and a corner from Johanesson created the second for Ragnar Ache. And another cross from Johanesson ultimately led to the 1-0 goal by Ache, whom Dayot Upamecano was unable to stop. The Munich team, usually outstanding at set pieces, saw their own trump card fly back in their faces.
Which is why assistant coach Aaron Danks made himself clear after the first 45 minutes: “He spoke at half-time,” Kane revealed about his compatriot, who is responsible for set pieces at FC Bayern. “He kind of gave us a bit of an English talking to,” Kane said with a grin, which loosely translated means: Things got loud. Because there had been “a bit of a mess” in their own penalty area. “We weren’t really in the right positions, we weren’t clear with the instructions.”
The result was the first corner goal conceded this season and only the third goal Munich had conceded from a set piece. In the Super Cup in Stuttgart (2-1), Jamie Leweling headed in an extended throw-in in injury time, and in the 4-1 win in Sinsheim, Vladimir Coufal scored from a free kick deflected by Joshua Kimmich.
Bayern will likely view this as a learning experience, especially with regard to the upcoming matches against Bayer Leverkusen and in Paris, where even the smallest mistakes will certainly be punished immediately. At least things worked out well again in the second half when Kane headed in a Kimmich corner from a few meters out, similar to the 1-0 win against Dortmund. For now, they have 14 wins from 14 competitive games. And Max Eberl no longer has to worry about a Kane crisis.
