Niko Kovac Relieved After Win Against Wolfburg

By Nigel Phillips

Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 3-1 to end their four-game winless streak on Saturday, and under fire manager Niko Kovac believes the win is a relieve to him and the club.

Niko Kovac admits that the defending Bundesliga champions were under pressure, having gone three league games and one Champions League game without a win.

Robert Lewandowski set the Bavarians up for a change in fortunes at the Volkswagen Arena in the 30th minute when he latched onto a killer pass to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Koen Casteels, before drilling the ball into the bottom left corner.

The Polish international grabbed his brace in the 49th minute by taking advantage of a defensive howler to slot home.

Admir Mehmedi pulled one back for the hosts in the 63rd minute by feeding on Wout Weghorst’s through pass to rifle a shot high into the net.

James Rodriguez secured the points for Niko Kovac’s men in the 72nd minute with a perfect finish into the bottom corner to Lewandowski’s through ball. 

The win for Kovac, who arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt this season, comes a day after the Bayern hierarchy took a swipe at the German media by describing them as ‘disrespectful’ during a press conference.

“I’m responsible for the sport, that means for the football,” says Kovac. “I’m responsible for the team and not for anything else."

“I said before that, we only got two points out of the last four games.

“Twelve were possible and that’s not our requirement. We didn’t want that and that’s just not our standard. The result was very important."

“The team had pressure today and the staff as well, if not the whole club.

“I can tell you something about systems or about the game, but nothing else.”