Bayern Munich saw their run of eight
straight Bundesliga games come to an
end when they lost 2-1 to Bayer
Leverkusen at the Allianz Arena on
Sunday.
Stefan Kiessling got a breakaway goal
for the visitors just before half-time,
but Mario Mandzukic equalised for
the dominant hosts with 12 minutes
left to play. However, with die Roten
pressing for a winner, Sidney Sam's
header was diverted past Manuel
Neuer by the unfortunate Jerome
Boateng.
The Bavarians were the ones to start
the game on top. Within two minutes
of kick-off, Toni Kroos sprayed a ball
to Thomas Muller on the right wing,
and the Germany winger wasted no
time in sending in a crisp cross that
Bastian Schweinsteiger tried, in vain,
to divert into the net.
Soon after, David Alaba picked out
Schweinsteiger, who found himself
crowded out by Stefan Reinartz
before he could get away a shot,
before the Bayern vice-captain sent in
a cross to Muller, who headed wide.
Holger Badstuber was the next player
to centre the ball, and Mario
Mandzukic forced a great reaction
save from Bernd Leno, who got down
well to parry it, and Alaba was inches
away from diverting the ball into the
net.
It seemed to be a matter of time
before the hosts took the lead, but
they were perhaps unlucky to avoid
falling behind when a Kiessling effort
from a set piece was ruled out for a
dubious foul on Dante by Philipp
Wollscheid.
Leverkusen were heartened by the
incident, and would have taken the
lead on 32 minutes, were it not for a
fantastic touch by Neuer who diverted
a Dani Carvajal cross away from
Kiessling's head.
At the other end, some fine
combination play from Muller and
Mandzukic released Kroos in the box,
but the 22-year-old fired straight at
Leno from close range, before
Schweinsteiger's powerful drive from
25 yards was diverted wide by the
young keeper.
Eventually, though, Bayern's
wastefulness came back to haunt
them. Leverkusen counterattacked
superbly, and Simon Rolfes released
Andre Schurrle, who pulled it across
the face of goal for Kiessling, who
tapped home.
Seconds before the interval, the lead
was almost doubled, only for the
hosts' blushes to be spared by a
dubious offside decision against the
goalscorer.
After the break, Bayern needed to take
back the impetus. Heynckes
introduced Xherdan Shaqiri in the
place of Holger Badstuber, and the
Swiss youngster almost made an
immediate impact, picking out Kroos,
who sent a shot wide via a deflection.
Leno got down fantastically to tip a
stinging shot from Jerome Boateng
around the post, before chipping the
ball into Muller, who headed wide
under pressure from Wollscheid.
Arjen Robben came on after an hour
in the place of Luiz Gustavo, but
within seconds, Bayern almost fell two
behind, only for Kiessling to head an
inviting cross into the ground, and
straight at Neuer, who then made a
decent stop from Gonzalo Castro.
Shaqiri came close to grabbing an
equaliser soon after with a 25-yard
effort which Leno did well to parry,
before the former Basel man picked
up a booking for a cynical dive in the
area which was rightly punished.
Robben played a well-weighted ball to
send Mandzukic clear, only for
Wollscheid to make a brilliant block to
stop the Croatian from getting a sight
of goal, and Toprak soon followed
suit to deny Muller.
Time was running out for the
Bavarians to get back into the match,
and Leverkusen's stern defence
showed no signs of subsiding, until
the 77th minute. Claudio Pizarro,
fresh on as a substitute, played in
Mandzukic, who headed into the net
with Leno stranded.
Within seconds, they were within
inches of turning the game on its
head entirely. Pizarro drove a cross-
shot across the face of goal, it struck
the bewildered Mandzukic, and
bounced agonisingly off the post.
The hosts pressed for a winner, but
four minutes from time, they were left
reeling. Carvajal sent in another great
cross from the right, Sidney Sam got
his head to it, and it struck the
unfortunate Jerome Boateng in the
face and trickled past Neuer.
Manuel Neuer had a hand in setting
up a 93rd minute chance for
Mandzukic who headed across the
woodwork, but it was all too late. The
Allianz Arena had been stunned:
Bayern's unbeaten record had come
to an end, and Leverkusen had
claimed their first away win against
Bayern for over 20 years.
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