MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Monchengladbach as their winning start to the Bundesliga season came to an end.
The champions had been in blistering form previously in 2022-23, scoring 15 goals across three wins, but they were met with firm resistance by Gladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer on Saturday.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side saw two first-half Sadio Mane goals disallowed before Dayot Upamecano’s mistake was pounced upon by Marcus Thuram, whose cool finish looked like it might be enough to win the game.
Bayern threw everything at Gladbach in the second half, with most of it repelled by Sommer until a powerful Leroy Sane effort snatched a point – the very least the hosts deserved but enough to take them back to the top of the table.
Consistent with the theme that was to develop throughout the game, Bayern were nearly ahead within a minute, but Sommer made a brilliant save to palm Upamecano’s header wide.
The hosts continued to dominate, and Mane saw two goals ruled out for offside in quick succession before Nagelsmann’s men were hit with a sucker-punch before half-time.
Upamecano failed to deal with a long punt forward, and Thuram raced onto it, sliding the ball past Manuel Neuer to give his side the lead against the run of play.
Bayern ramped up the pressure further with a second-half onslaught, and Sommer was forced into an excellent double-stop to deny Mane from close range with just under half an hour left.
The Switzerland international was alert again to keep out Sane in a one-on-one situation, but the winger finally got the better of him on 83 minutes, steering into the bottom-left corner.
Bayern pressed for a winner, yet Sommer returned to form to keep them at bay, finishing with a remarkable 19 saves.
What does it mean? Brilliant Bayern only take a point
Nagelsmann will be wondering how his side did not win this game, having attempted 33 shots with an incredible 20 on target.
Bayern will no doubt rue the mistake by Upamecano that allowed Thuram to score, but they had more than enough chances at the other end to win two or three games.
Saviour Sommer
Opta records had previously counted no more than 17 saves by a goalkeeper in a match in Europe’s top five leagues, yet Sommer broke that barrier in style.
He looked impenetrable until Sane’s pinpoint finish finally got Bayern on the scoresheet.
Mediocre Muller
Not every Sommer stop was outstanding, as he was grateful to see Thomas Muller nod straight at him in the second half.
That summed up a below-par showing from Muller, even if he created four chances for his team-mates.
What’s next?
Bayern visit third-tier Viktoria Koln in the DFB-Pokal first round on Wednesday. For Gladbach, their next outing is a home league game against Mainz.
