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Bayern Munich travelled to Borussia Park on Saturday to face Borussia Monchengladbach with their season hardly going according to plan. The Bundesliga champions were 4 points behind the surprise league leaders and were coming off the back of a disappointing 1-2 defeat at the hands of Leverkusen last weekend.
Despite Robert Lewandowski's goal-scoring antics this season, Bayern had 3 draws and 3 defeats in their 13 games in Bundesliga so far. The Bavarians were 4th in the table and were in the danger of slipping further away unless they could manage a win against Monchengladbach.
The hosts, however, had managed 4 wins in their last 5 games and had already shown the league that they were no pushovers. As such, even though Hansi Flick had won 4 of his 5 games as interim manager of the Bavarians, he knew he had his task cut out against Die Fohlen.
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Bayern started the game well and dominated the proceedings for the majority of the first half. However, Monchengladbach held on and managed to reach the break with the score still tied at 0-0. In the second half, Ivan Perisic gave the away side the lead in the 49th minute. The home side responded 11 minutes later, scoring the equalizer through Bensebaini.
When it looked like the game was headed for a draw, Monchengladbach were awarded a penalty in the 90th minute. Bensebaini stepped up and scored the winner from the spot to earn his team all 3 points. Here are the hits and flops from the game.
#Hit: Yann Sommer
The Switzerland international started between the sticks for the home side and managed to frustrate Bayern Munich for the majority of the game. Yann Sommer was impeccable in the first half, pulling out a series of fantastic saves and rising to every challenge thrown at him by the away side.
At one point, after allowing a shot from Kimmich to sneak underneath him, the Switzerland international managed to immediately redeem himself by stopping the ball from crossing the line by a whisker.
There was nothing much he could do about Perisic’s goal, but Sommer continued to thwart Bayern’s offensive moves right until the end of the game. The Switzerland international made 5 saves on the day to keep his team in the game and helped them secure a close win.
Flop - Robert Lewandowski
The Polish international had started the season on fire and had continued his form into the later stages of the year. Robert Lewandowski had scored in 11 consecutive games before he was stopped from scoring by Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. It was thought to be a mere hiccup on the road for the Bayern striker, who was expected to be back to goalscoring form this weekend. He had, after all, scored 27 goals already this season in all competitions. Unfortunately, though, the Polish striker had a night to forget.
Lewandowski did have a few half chances to score in the first half but failed to take the game by the scruff of the neck. He came agonizingly close on more than a couple occasions in the first half but missed the mark. After the break though, Lewandowski found opportunities few and far in between and drifted out of the game in the end.
The Polish striker managed just 3 shots in the entire game and none of them were on target. He had just 40 touches of the ball and failed to step up when his team needed him the most.
Hit - Ivan Perisic
The Croatian was initially considered a stopgap signing by the German media when he was bought by Bayern Munich in the summer. However, since the move, Perisic has managed to squash those notions. Against Monchengladbach, the Croatian started from the bench but was called into action in the 20th minute after Corentin Tolisso picked up an injury.
Perisic took up position in the flanks and immediately got into the thick of things. He did get the chance to break the deadlock a couple of times in the first half, but could not find the back of the net. The Croatian displayed a knack of getting into good positions and his speed and power often caught the home side on the back foot. Perisic’s first touch was also immaculate and after the break, he finally made a telling contribution to the game.
Early in the second half, the on-loan winger was heavily involved and set up Muller nicely on the edge of the box. However, instead of shooting, the German decided to return the favour, passing the ball back to the Croatian. Perisic received the ball on his right foot and then hit a sweet volley on the turn with his left to put his team ahead.
Flop - Jerome Boateng
The German defender returned to the first team against Monchengladbach, replacing Javi Martinez. Boateng had a tough day on the field, struggling to deal with the speed and movement of the home attack. Bayern needed the 31-year-old to draw in all his experience but he failed to deal with the threat of Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea as they ran riot all game.
Even though the away side dominated the first half, they looked vulnerable every time Monchengladbach broke away and the German defender failed to be the assured presence at the back that was required on the day.
After Bayern took the lead early in the second half, Boateng needed to marshall his defence and get their acts together. However, he failed to deal with Bensebaini as he broke free and scored the equalizer. Boateng had 53 touches on the ball and even managed 53 passes with 89% accuracy. However, he failed to win any of his aerial duels and was dribbled past 3 times.
He was replaced by Martinez in the 68th minute, but the Spaniard turned out to be equally poor, conceding the penalty, picking up his second yellow card and getting his marching orders.
Hit - Ramy Bensebaini
The Algerian footballer has not featured regularly in the team this season after joining the side in the summer. This was only his 5th start in the Bundesliga, as Bensebaini had been warming the bench for the majority of the season. However, he had displayed a knack of scoring goals already, picking up his first for the club against Werder Bremen, a game where he picked up 2 yellow cards and got his marching orders.
After serving a suspension against Union Berlin, the Algerian was back in the team against FC Freiburg, helping his team secure a win. Against Bayern Munich too, he started in the left-back position and made a telling contribution in the game.
After spending the majority of the half dealing with Bayern pressure, Bensebaini watched his team go behind in the 49th minute. However, he inspired his team to muster a comeback in the game. The Algerian started by scoring the equalizer in the 60th minute, sending a fierce header from a corner into the back of the net. After Monchengladbach won a penalty in the dying minutes of the game, Bensebaini took the responsibility himself and tucked in the winner.
The Algerian managed 3 shots in the game, 2 of which were on target. He had 53 touches of the ball and attempted just 20 passes. However, his contributions in front of goal mattered the most at the end of the day.
