Landon Donovan and Bradley Wright-Phillips gave the MLS All Stars a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Bayern Munich in Wednesday night’s friendly at Providence Park in Portland, Ore.
The game was a very good showcase for the league, and a fun viewing (even for neutrals without a stake in the league or the Bavarians). Be sure to check back on this site all night, as Richard Farley is on the scene in Portland.
The end of the game brought drama, as Pep Guardiola and the Bayern staff refused to shake the hand of MLS coach Caleb Porter.
[ WATCH: Porter gets the cold shoulder from Pep ]
Bayern left a lot of firepower on the bench for the start of the game, a fact that was underscored by their 80th minute substitutions of Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gotze and Diego Contento.
Robert Lewandowski scored Bayern’s only goal, and the first half tally looked like this:
It was part of a wide-open first half with plenty of chances for each side and some wonderful saves from Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
And here’s what we were saying at halftime.
Portland head coach Caleb Porter made 10 changes at halftime, leaving Thierry Henry as the only starter on the pitch to start the second half. The move was for good reason, as Henry’s removal in the 48th minute earned a great salute from the Portland crowd in what could very well be the French legend’s last All Star Game. And Landon Donovan entering the game for Henry helped up the volume as well.
Bradley Wright-Phillips continued his goal-scoring magic with an stunning left-footed shot that beat a diving Starke. The play was set up by Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres’ flick, and the match was tied at 1 in the 51st minute.
Manuel Neuer enjoyed a rousing round of applause when he entered the game in the 62nd minute.
Then came a bit of controversy, as Osvaldo Alonso made a poor and unnecessary challenge on Xherdan Shaqiri that had Bayern boss Pep Guardiola cross the halfway line to have some angry words with Porter and his staff.
The 70th minute found Donovan scoring against his former club, as Diego Valeri’s pretty ball over the top was collected and pushed home by the USMNT legend.
It was a great moment for him, especially given his summer.
Bernat burst forward in the 79th minute to get onto the end of a Shaqiri cross, but the strong strike was parried out of bounds by Bill Hamid.
The Portland crowd knew its place and moment, and provided the international audience with a strong “Onward Rose City” in the 84th minute.
Late challenges had Guardiola in an uproar, as it seems the MLS All Stars were infringing on some sort of agreement to keep it calm. There were three yellow cards in the game, with Alonso, Will Johnson and Jerome Boateng seeing cautions.
All-Star Game history
1996: East, 3-2
1997: East, 5-4
1998: USA, 6-1
1999: West, 6-4
2000: East, 9-4
2001: East 6-6 West
2002: MLS 3-2 USMNT
2003: MLS 3-1 CD Guadalajara
2004: East, 3-2
2005: MLS 4-1 Fulham
2006: MLS 1-0 Chelsea
2007: MLS 2-0 Celtic
2008: MLS 3-2 West Ham
2009: Everton 1-1 (4-3 pks) MLS
2010: Manchester United 5-2 MLS
2011: Manchester United 4-0 MLS
2012: MLS 3-2 Chelsea
2013: Roma 3-1 MLS
2014: MLS 2-1 Bayern Munich
Lineups
Bayern Munich: Starke (Neuer, 62′); Rafinha, Bernat (Schweinsteiger, 80′), Alaba (c) (Robben, 86′); Martínez, Shaqiri (Gotze, 80′), Rode (Muller, 80′), Gaudino (Dante, 62′); Hojbjerg (Boateng, 73′), Lewandowski (Contento, 80′), Pizarro (Green, 37′; Lahm, 82′)
Goals: Lewandowski (8)
MLS All Stars: Rimando (Hamid, 46′); Yedlin (Franklin, 46′), Collin (Boswell, 46′), Besler (Ridgewell, 46′), Parkhurst (Alonso, 46′); Zusi (Wright-Phillips, 46′), Cahill (Valeri, 46′), Bradley (Edu, 46′), Henry (Donovan, 48′; Dwyer, 72′); Dempsey (W. Johnson, 46′); Martins (Torres, 46′)
Goals: Wright-Phillips (51), Donovan (70′)
