Goalkeeper mistakes as Munich are held and Schalke lose again
|Published
MISTAKE: Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Photo: Martin Meissner/AP MISTAKE: Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Photo: Martin Meissner/AP
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer blundered as Bayern
Munich's 100 per cent season record ended on Tuesday, and Schalke
keeper Ralf Faehrmann did also not look good in a club
record-equalling fifth straight Bundesliga defeat.
Augsburg got a late 1-1 equalizer in Munich when Felix Goetze
cancelled out Munich's lead from Aren Robben after Neuer failed to
hold on to a corner kick. Bayern had entered the match having won
their first four league matches and seven in all competitions.
Schalke hit the post twice before falling 1-0 at Freiburg from
Florian Niederlechner's strike which came on the rebound of Faehrmann
not holding on to a shot. Last season's runners-up also lost their
first five matches two years ago.
Bayern top the standings with 13 points, two ahead of Werder Bremen,
who beat third-placed Hertha Berlin 3-1. Hoffenheim won the other
Tuesday game 3-1 at Hanover. Schalke remain last with zero points.
Munich coach Niko Kovac continued to rotate, giving forward Sandro
Wagner and midfielder Renato Sanches a first start in the league
against Augsburg.
Wagner and Sanches missed first-half chances and Augsburg's Andreas
Luthe, between the posts after Fabian Giefer blundered in previous
games, also saved well from Serge Gnabry.
The veteran Robben broke the deadlock in the 48th by firing into the
roof of the net. But Neuer then let a corner kick slip through his
hands in the 86th and the ball finally fell to Goetze who chested it
into the net for an unexpected draw.
"We didn't play the way we wanted to," Kovac told Sky TV. "We missed
several chances and then conceded from a set piece. Augsburg chased
us all over the pitch. We must now stay focussed."
Schalke had an early goal from Cedric Teuchert correctly denied for
offside, and Hamza Mendyl and Daniel Caligiuri hit the right post in
the 40th and 45, respectively.
Faehrmann however then failed to hold on to Christian Guenter's shot
and Niederlechner tapped home on the rebound in the 52nd for a second
straight victory.
"We didn't score. We were dominant and had several major chances in
the first half," Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco said. "We must
continue to play like this but must score goals. We will do it."
In Bremen, Martin Harnik's back-heeler in a goalmouth scramble and
Milos' Veljkovic's header gave Bremen a 2-0 half-time lead in a duel
of unbeaten teams. Youngster Javeiro Dilrosun pulled one back for
Hertha but Max Kruse's 66th-minute penalty settled the affair.
The Berlin club became the first in league history to concede a
penalty five games in a row, and they next face mighty Bayern on
Friday.
"It was a top match, the whole Bundesliga was watching. And we showed
convincingly that we are a force to be reckoned with," Kruse said.
Hoffenheim snatched a 2-0 lead in Hanover from Joshua Brenet's low
shot in the 20th and Pavel Kaderabek in the 49th. Niclas Fuellkrug
pulled one back from a 55th-minute penalty and headed against the bar
before Ishak Belfodil wrapped up matters in stoppage time against
winless Hanover.
The other five games are on Wednesday, including Borussia Dortmund v
Nuremberg.