Bayern Munich suffers second league defeat of the season at Monchengladbach.
Bayern Munich was punished for mistakes at the back on Friday as Borussia Monchengladbach come from two goals down to clinch a memorable victory. A brace from Jonas Hoffman and a wonder goal from Florian Neuhaus helped the hosts to clinch the victory. Robert Lewandowski and Leon Goretzka were the goal scorers for Die Roten.
Hansi Flick made three changes to the team that featured in the thrilling comeback win against Mainz last weekend. Niklas Sule replaced Jerome Boateng in the defense, while Corentin Tolisso made way for Goretzka in the central midfield. Douglas Costa got an opportunity in the attack due to a minor injury to Serge Gnabry.
Marco Rose also made multiple changes to the lineup that clinched a narrow win against Arminia Bielefeld in the last game week. Ramy Bensebaini replaced Oscar Wendt in the left-back position. Dennis Zakaria was back in the lineup to provide more steel in the midfield. The Swiss midfielder replaced Patrick Herrmann in the starting XI.
After more than a month, Die Roten started the game better than the opposition. The visitors were not extraordinary in the first 15 minutes, but they were keeping the ball better and avoided unforced errors in the defense. Despite controlling the game, Die Roten was finding it difficult to create clear-cut chances.
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It was not surprising that Die Roten’s first goal came through an error from Gladbach. Florian Neuhaus handled the ball in the box and gave away a penalty. Lewandowski calmly slotted the ball past Yann Sommer in the 20th minute of the game. Die Roten were well on top as they quickly doubled their lead through a smashing hit from the edge of the box by Goretzka in the 26th minute.
The German Champions were playing more freely after taking a two-goal lead, winning all duels and second balls to exert more pressure on Gladbach. Against the run of play, the hosts got one goal back. Lars Stindl threaded a pin-point pass to find the run of Hofmann from the midfield. Sule switched off and let the German forward have a free run in the box. Hofmann showed composure to put the ball in the net.
After conceding the first goal, Bayern lost all the composure. They were misplacing passes in the final third while the counter-press from Gladbach was not allowing them to play out from the back. The hardwork from Rose’s men paid off when Stindl played another delicious through ball to send Hofmann in one-on-one situation with Neuer. Hofmann did his job of putting the ball into the net, but the linesman raised his flag for offside. The VAR came to Gladbach’s rescue as Sule’s error of judgement while maintaining a high line of defense kept Hofmann onside.
The hosts carried the momentum from the end of the first half into the second half of the game. Sule continued to have a nightmare as he gave away the ball cheaply to Hofmann in a dangerous position. The German winger found Neuhaus at the edge of the box. The young midfielder curled the ball past Neuer to give Gladbach a much-deserved lead.
Die Roten increased the tempo of the game after going down, but they were struggling to make clear-cut chances. Gladbach maintained a disciplined low block after getting the lead. They were giving no space to the visitors in the final third, and defenders were putting their bodies on the line to make blocks.
The hosts managed to see out the game by defending deep. Die Roten just couldn’t create clear-cut chances despite hoarding the ball for the majority of the second half. This result should be a wake-up call for Flick’s men as they are likely to be dislodged from top place in the league if other rivals win their games this weekend.
"Borussia Monchengladbach (4-3-3)SommerLainer-Ginter-Elvedi-BensebainiZakaria-Kramer-NeuhausHofmann-Embolo-StindlSubstitutes: Sippel, Beyer, Lang, Wendt (↓Hofmann (89′)), Jantschke (↓Bensebaini (89′)), Benes, Wolf (↓Stindl (82′)), Traore, Herrmann (↓Zakaria (74′)) Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1)NeuerPavard-Sule-Alaba-DaviesKimmich-GoretzkaSane-Muller-CostaLewandowskiSubstitutes: Nubel, Choupo-Moting, Boateng, Sarr, Hernandez, Roca, Tolisso, Coman (↓Costa (68′)), Musiala"