The phrases “bonkers” and “berserk” came close to describing Bayern Munich’s final-day thrilling Bundesliga win over Kenyan midfielder Linton Maina’s FC Koln.
The title fight went down to the wire heading into the last game of the season, with Borussia Dortmund leading the way with 70 points and Bayern trailing by two.
This meant that Bayern required a favor from former Thomas Tuchel’s side, Mainz, who met Dortmund in the season finale, with the latter hoping to snap an 11-year league title drought.
Bayern had the perfect start to the game as it only took them eight minutes to break the deadlock through Kingsley Coman who cut in from the left flank to unleash a thunderbolt that rippled the net.
The early goal settled the nerves for Bayern as soon after, Andreas Hanche-Olsen broke the deadlock for Mainz at the Signal Iduna Park which left Dortmund trailing.
Bayern continued to dominate proceedings but lacked the cutting edge to find the second goal but Mainz did them a huge favour as they netted the second in the 24th minute through Karim Onisiwo.
The reigning German champions thought they had gone into the break with a 2-0 lead after Leroy Sane found the back of the net but VAR chalked off his goal for a handball in the build-up.
Tables turned in the second half as Koln began to dictate possession and created a number of chances that they failed to take.
Linton Maina’s 96 appearances for Hannover
Prior to joining FC Koln, Maina scored nine times and provided 15 assists in 96 appearances for Hannover. This season, he has scored three goals and provided 10 assists.
Hannover finished the season with 42 points in position 11.
In their last game against Ingolstadt, Maina bagged a brace to help his team win 3-2.
Michael Heinloth opened the scoring for Hannover after turning the ball into his own net. Valmir Sulejmani equalized for Ingolstadt before Linton Maina took over the show.
Maximillian Beier assisted Maina for his first goal in the 56th minute before he put the game to bed in the 74th minute. I
ngolstadt added a second goal through Filip Bilbija but Hannover held on for the three maximum points.
Maina joined FC Koln on a free transfer.
Koln is finishing the Bundesliga season in eleventh place.
