Leverkusen holds on to beat Bayern
Bayern Munich spurned a host of chances as Leon Bailey's double earned 10-man Bayer Leverkusen a 2-1 win at Allianz Arena.… Show More
Bayern Munich spurned a host of chances as Leon Bailey's double earned 10-man Bayer Leverkusen a 2-1 win at Allianz Arena.
The Bundesliga champion had won each of its four matches without conceding since Flick was named interim boss after Niko Kovac's sacking, but it came unstuck in Sunday's (AEDT) Bundesliga clash.
Thomas Muller scored his first goal in 21 league matches to cancel out Bailey's early opener, only for the Leverkusen winger to restore his side's advantage 115 seconds later.
Despite Jonathan Tah being dismissed nine minutes from time, a mixture of poor finishing and impressive goalkeeping from Lukas Hradecky left Bayern, which rattled the woodwork late on through Leon Goretzka and an unusually wasteful Robert Lewandowski, frustrated as it lost further ground in the title race.
Serge Gnabry hit the post after being played in by an incisive David Alaba pass and, 45 seconds later, Bailey charged through at the other end before firing a shot across Manuel Neuer to open the scoring.
Some heroic defending from Wendell denied Lewandowski a simple tap-in but Bayern was soon on level terms, Muller's shot deflecting off Sven Bender on its way past Lukas Hradecky.
But the visitors instantly hit the front again through Bailey. The winger played a one-two with Kevin Volland, raced away from Javi Martinez and slotted past Neuer to double his tally.
Gnabry squandered a glorious chance to draw Bayern level late in the first half as he squared the ball instead of shooting when one-on-one, with Lars Bender blocking the pass.
Neuer was required early in the second period to keep out Nadiem Amiri's close-range shot, but it was Flick's men who were enjoying the lion's share of chances.
Lewandowski was wayward from 10 yards and Hradecky produced a double save to thwart the Poland international and Muller in quick succession.
Goretzka and Lewandowski both sent headers crashing against the woodwork, either side of Tah being shown a red card for bringing down substitute Philippe Coutinho, but there was to be no equaliser for the champion.
Back-to-back Bundesliga victories for Bayern had it firmly back in the title race, with talk of caretaker boss Flick potentially landing the job on a full-time basis.
This defeat is very much a reality check for the Bavarian club, however, leaving it fourth in the table and now three points behind RB Leipzig, which beat Paderborn 3-2 earlier in the day,.
If Borussia Monchengladbach defeats Freiburg on Monday (AEDT) Bayern will be four off the pace.
