The MLS All-Stars beat visiting FC Bayern Munich and their stable of World Cup winners 2-1 tonight with a pair of second half goals from Bradley Wright-Phillips and Landon Donovan.
The first half of the match saw a side selected by the MLS fan voting run out against a Bayern B-side that nonetheless included names like Xherdan Shaqiri and Robert Lewandowski.
Applying a high line of pressure and keeping the All-Stars pinned back in their own half, Bayern Munich saw results from their pressure early on, cracking the All-Stars' defense and getting on the score sheet in the 8'. A minute after forcing one big save from Nick Rimando, Lewandowski received a pass at the top of the box from Rafinha and, with his first touch, skipped the ball up and over the oncoming tackle of Aurelian Collin, then hit a curling, dipping volley that wrong-footed Rimando and buried itself in the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Bayern almost got on the score sheet again in the 38' as Caludio Pizzaro fed a pass into the box, finding the feet of Shaqiri on the run between two MLS defenders. Hitting the ball with his first touch from just outside the six-yard box, Shaqiri looked sure to score only to have his shot batted away by a quick reaction save from Rimando.
The All-Stars had an attempt of their own in the 40' as Thierry Henry got on the end of a headed clearance outside the Bayern box. With no defenders nearby, Henry juggled the ball twice in the air before unleashing a dipping volley that skimmed just over the crossbar.
There were major changes for the All-Stars in the second half as Caleb Porter ran out an eleven that had only one player in common with the first, Thierry Henry, who would be brought off in the 47' to a huge ovation from the crowd. Among the players brought on were the Timbers' three All-Star representatives: Diego Valeri, one of the commissioner's picks, as well as Will Johnson and Liam Ridgewell, who were selected by Porter.
That second half line-up, facing off against a tired Bayern side, managed to turn the tide against the visitors, pushing the pace and forward with increasing frequency as the game wore on.
In the 51' the All-Stars had their first real chance of the half and made the most of it. A long ball down the pitch from Bobby Boswell found Erick Torres in the midfield where he headed the ball on and into the path of Wright-Phillips. With a defender on either side of him, Wright-Phillips turned on the speed and beat the defenders to the ball taking one touch before unleashing a laser volley on the run that tucked just into the upper corner of the net.
The All-Stars kept up their pressure in the half, holding the ball further and further down the pitch. In the 62' it looked like the All-Stars hopes of a game-winner had taken a dip when German National Team keeper Manuel Neuer took the pitch for Bayern, but the All-Stars kept the pressure up and, in the 70', it paid off.
Working the ball down their right flank, the All-Stars found Portland's own Maestro out wide on the wing. With Sean Franklin overlapping down the sideline and drawing off a defender, Valeri had the time to lift his head up and pick out Donovan cutting around behind the back of his defender. Swinging in a curled cross, Valeri found the chest of Donovan, who managed to wrestle his way in front of both Bayern centerbacks and, holding them off, slip a shot just under the onrushing Neuer and into the back of the net.
Now down a goal, Bayern began to roll out the big guns, substituting on Thomas Muller, Arjen Robbern, Bastian Schweinstager, Mario Götze, and Phillip Lahm in the 82'. Bringing on four World Cup winners and one Robben was not enough, however, as the All-Stars saw out the final ten minutes of play.