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Volland equals fastest-ever Bundesliga goal, 10-man Bayern wins anyway

Joey Gulino

Kevin Volland and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim started fast. Bayern Munich showed them how to finish.

Volland equaled the Bundesliga record by scoring only nine seconds into the match, but Robert Lewandowski scored a late winner and 10-man Bayern Munich left Hoffenheim with a 2-1 victory on Saturday.

Exciting it was. Easy it wasn’t.

Volland punished an early mistake by Daniel Alaba, whose lazy back pass left Jerome Boateng and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer out to dry.

Fresh off a silver boot at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship this past June, Volland accepted the gift:

Upon official review, the goal ties Karim Bellarabi’s Bundesliga record, which was set almost exactly one year ago Saturday. The Bayer Leverkusen winger scored against Borussia Dortmund on Aug. 23, 2014, in the same nine seconds it took Volland.

After conceding, Bayern began pelting the Hoffenheim net with shots and finally broke through in the 41st minute. Douglas Costa forced a save out of Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann and Thomas Muller cleaned up the rebound to draw Bayern level.

But the match took another turn in the 72nd minute, when Boateng was sent off for a pair of yellow cards in quick succession. He fouled Volland just outside the box to slow down an attack, and then was judged to have handled the ball intentionally on the ensuing free kick.

Hoffenheim’s Eugen Polanski had a chance to reclaim the lead, but his penalty hit the post and took a fortuitous Bayern bounce off Neuer before Alaba cleared it away:

Even down to 10 men, Bayern’s overwhelming talent and spritely play figured to threaten Hoffenheim the rest of the way. While Baumann stood strong on several occasions, Costa again orchestrated a goal, this time for Lewandowski:

Hoffenheim will surely be disappointed by failing to capitalize on the chance to beat Bayern Munich. That said, the club didn’t look scared in the slightest against the three-time defending Bundesliga champions.

Too bad Bayern can take punches, no matter how early or late they come.