Bayern Munich 2 Boca Juniors 1 – Bayern advance despite great Merentiel goal – Boca must hammer Auckland and hope

New York Times

4 hours ago

Michael Olise's late goal ensured Bayern Munich beat Boca Juniors despite a wonderful individual goal from Miguel Merentiel to become the first European team to qualify for the knockout stages at the Club World Cup.
Bayern could have been 3-0 up after 20 minutes with Olise's Olimpico (a goal direct from a corner) disallowed by VAR and Kingsley Coman missing an open goal from inside the six-yard box either side of Harry Kane's 18th-minute strike.
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The German champions looked to be cruising to victory until Merentiel exploded through their defences and cracked a fine strike past Manuel Neuer that sent most of the 63,587 crowd at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami into ecstasy.
Boca were on the front foot but Olise, who lost the ball in the build-up to Boca's goal, struck from the edge of the area to win the game for Bayern.
All of which means Boca Juniors must now beat amateurs Auckland City and hope Benfica lose to the German champions while turning round a seven-goal difference to reach the knockouts. The only concern for Bayern afterwards was a concerning injury for Jamal Musiala.
Here James Horncastle and Jack Lang analyse the game.
For over an hour, he fed on scraps. He ran and he ran, hustling and harrying, but the service was non-existent. With Boca's midfielders camped on the edge of their own penalty box, there was rarely a team mate in the same postcode.
In games like this, strikers know they may only get one chance. And they know they might have to fashion it alone. So it was here for Miguel Merentiel. He ran and ran, waited and waited. And then, when there was a the slightest crack in the Bayern defensive edifice, barely perceptible to the naked eye, he took out his chisel.
First came the run. Bayern's Jonathan Tah thought he had everything under control when Merentiel shuffled back towards the halfway line. He didn't: the Uruguayan dropped his shoulder, sprinted down the touchline, ran onto Alan Velasco's clever pass, leaving Tah choking on fumes.
GOOOOOOOOOL DE BOCAAAA!!
Merentiel takes matters into his own hands! 💪
A dazzling run and a cold finish — it's all square at 1-1! ⚽
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He darted infield. Josip Stanisic came across, looked primed to hammer the ball away. Except no, Merentiel got there first and kind of just… teleported through him. The subsequent finish, whipped past Neuer, was as emphatic as they come and almost took the lid off the Hard Rock.
Merential was subbed later in the half, understandably exhausted. And while Boca could not quite hang on for a point, there may be some consolation in having scored the goal of the tournament so far.
Jack Lang
Boca fans took the atmosphere to another level in Miami Gardens.
There were even more of them at the Hard Rock stadium than on Monday against Benfica and it genuinely felt like the Bombonera had moved from Buenos Aires to Miami for the night.
The Boca hinchas covered one end with their banners, smuggled 10s of flags and balloons in and made Bayern feel like they were playing in Argentina. Harry Kane's opener did not silence the crowd and the role of Jugador No.12 (the 12th man) kept Boca in it.
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The energy after Merentiel's equaliser was such that it felt like Boca might go on and win it. In the end Bayern's class told, and it was Kane who set up Olise for the winner.
Regrets? Boca certainly have a few. The 2-0 lead they threw away against Benfica on Monday hurts particularly given it was 11v10 at one stage and yet, somehow they still contrived to let Nicolas Otamendi equalise.
Perhaps the only silver-lining of Friday's 2-1 against Bayern is that it was a narrow defeat.
Boca must hope that Bayern don't rest players against Benfica and end up beating them by a greater margin. They, simultaneously, have to get to work on Auckland City, who Benfica put six goals past without reply earlier on Friday.
That's a tall order, even with Merentiel in clinical form.
James Horncastle
Out of solidarity for a commonwealth nation that still recognises the King as its head of state, England's Harry Kane was not among the Bayern goalscorers in their 10-0 demolition of Auckland City in Cincinnati.
It did not seem to perturb him.
Kane already has 38 goals for the season. Rather than play catch-up with his teammates, they're the ones in his wake. Kane cut a relaxed figure before playing Boca in Miami. He talked about his rounds of golf with Thomas Muller who will leave Bayern after the Club World Cup. He teased local reporters about one day moving to the US himself either to play in MLS or the NFL where he fancies his luck as a kicker.
After an early air-shot at the Hard Rock stadium, a place that's home to the Miami Dolphins in the autumn and winter, Kane made his mark on one of his first visits to the Red Zone. He showed great poise in collecting a clearance on the edge of the area where he immediately processed what he had to do in order to beat Boca goalkeeper, Agustin Marchesin.
James Horncastle
Bayern made a commanding start to the match and had the ball in the Boca net on seven minutes. Michael Olise's corner kick from the right evaded everyone in the box, but had enough curl on it to sneak into the far corner of Agustin Marchesin's goal.
¡EL GOL OLÍMPICO ANULADO A OLISE! 😮 ❌ ¡SE SALVA BOCA!@FIFACWC | Todos los partidos gratis en https://t.co/yWCWbevPop | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/yWATnyxGGK
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It sparked 10 seconds of complete confusion. Olise himself looked deeply puzzled, as if he'd just opened the fridge and found a suitcase full of money. His team-mates celebrated; the Boca players complained furiously, surrounding the referee and pointing at Marchesin.
Replays revealed why they were protesting: the goalkeeper had been impeded by Bayern's Serge Gnabry on the line. Not a lot, but enough. Olise's effort was chalked off. Those eager to see a gol olimpico — a goal scored direct from a corner — at this tournament will have to wait a little longer.
Much later, after Kane and Merentiel had traded goals, when Boca appeared to have shaped the match to their design, Olise popped up with the winner, guiding a shot home from the edge of the box. That it was an easy finish for a player of his ability should not take away from the magnitude of the moment — or the quality of his performance in Miami.
Jack Lang
Tuesday, June 24: Benfica, Club World Cup group stage (Charlotte), 3pm ET, 8pm UK
Tuesday, June 24: Auckland City, Club World Cup group stage (Nashville), 3pm ET, 8pm UK
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