Points shared as Bayern battle back to draw Leipzig
In a thrilling Saturday evening affair at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, title-aspirants FC Bayern München and RB Leipzig could not be separated in a four-goal-thriller. The two respective top teams contesting the Bundesliga's "Top Spiel" delivered a very exciting 2-2 draw.
| Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
RB trainer Rose rotated six players back into his following Wednesday's DFB Pokal triumph. Janis Blaswich, Mohamed Simakan, David Raum, Xaver Schlager, Xavi Simons, and Loïs Openda all returned in place of Peter Gulacsi, Lukas Klostermann, Christopher Lenz, Nicolas Seiwald, Fabio Carvalho, and Benjamin Sesko. Tuchel also brought back several regulars, with Leroy Sané, Harry Kane, and Sven Ulreich taking the place of Mats Tel, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, and Daniel Peretz. Dayot Upamecano and Min-Jae Kim were also once again fit enough to start.
The first chance of the match belonged to the Bavarian guests, with Jamal Musiala testing keeper Janis Blaswich in the 3rd. Emil Forsberg almost caught Ulreich off his line ten minutes later. The record champs continued to look strong in possession early and unleashed some promising counter charges until the Saxon hosts scored against the run-of-play in the 20th. Schlager played Openda through off a throw-in. The RB striker chipped a shot past Ulreich with a slightly fortuitous deflection off Kim.
Six minutes after that, Leipzig doubled the advantage. RB defender Castello polished off a 26th minute corner after a nice layoff from Openda. Ulreich was partly to blame for flapping at the initial service. Fouls, stoppages, and interruptions impeded the match flow for the duration of the half. Bayern were also more reluctant to take risks after incurring the deficit. Tuchel went for a double change at the restart, bringing on Tel and Raphaël Guerreiro for Goretzka and Coman at the half.
The new personnel changes affected the match little, yet Bayern were granted a lifeline when Benjamin Henrichs blocked a Sané free-kick shot with his elbow in the 56th. The infringement happened within the box and Tuchel's see were awarded a handball penalty. Kane converted the 1-2 from the spot. Sensing that they had a way back in, the guests performed better from open play. Musiala and Sané ran a brilliant counter combo in the 70th, with the latter finishing off the equalizer at the end of the sparkling play.
Substitutes for the respective sides traded chances in the final minutes, with Sesko and Choupo coming close to finding the decisive goal in second-half injury time. Ulreich ultimately redeemed himself for the earlier error by saving a Sesko effort in the final seconds and ensuring that the spoils would be shared. Including the recent Supercup loss, Bayern have now gone four consecutive fixtures without a win against Leipzig on-the-spin.