Bayern defender van Buyten praises team spirit

Defender Daniel van Buyten headed Bayern Munich’s late goal which sealed a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and insisted it was the German giants’ determination which saw them through.

Van Buyten?s 88th-minute goal gave Bayern the three points on Saturday which lifted them to fifth in the table after Saturday’s matches, just four points behind leaders Leverkusen who drew 1-1 with Dortmund on Friday.

After Alexander Meier converted Frankfurt’s first chance into a 60th minute goal, Dutch winger Arjen Robben banged home the equaliser before van Buyten powered home his header two minutes from time.

“Frankfurt scored with their first chance, which obviously made it even more of a pressure situation,” said van Buyten with Bayern set to host Leverkusen in the Bavaria derby in Munich on Sunday November 22.

“But that just spurred us to get forward.

“We were utterly determined to win, we started taking far more risks, we kept on creating chances, and at the end of the day, we?ve taken the three points.”

Bayern captain Mark van Bommel praised his side’s spirit to come back from behind to win the game.

“We had five or six very good chances in the first half, and we had to be putting those away,” said the Dutchman.

“It would have made it a whole lot easier for us.

“But we fell behind, and that?s when we needed to show great character.

“We responded with total conviction.”

And Germany defender Bastian Schweinsteiger wondered if Bayern are suffering from some sort of curse after conceding Meier scored with Frankfurt’s first decent attack of the game.

“No-one can have imagined Frankfurt would take the lead here,” he said.

“It feels like we?re cursed.

“We had all the play, we dominated possession and had loads of chances – and they get into the final third once and score.

“We threw men forward after that and fully deserved to win 2-1.

“Those are three vital points. We haven?t put our world to rights yet, but it all looks a bit better now.

“Our goal is to take maximum points from the games up to Christmas.”