Posted in Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga

Leverkusen drops Bayern and hands the lead to Dortmund

 March 19, 2023

Goals: Bayer Leverkusen – Bayern Munich – Played on 03/19/ 2023

Bayern Munich received a new defeat away from home at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen (1-2), today, Sunday, in the 25th round of the German League.

The Bavarian team advanced with a goal scored by Joshua Kimmich in the 22nd minute before Leverkusen turned the tables on it with a double from Ezequiel Palacios from two penalties (s 55 and 73).

Leverkusen’s victory prevented Bayern from regaining the lead, which was snatched by Borussia Dortmund, to drop the Bavarian to second place with 52 points, while coach Xabi Alonso’s squad jumped to eighth place with 37 points.

The first 10 minutes witnessed calm from both teams until Demirbay tried to deceive Jan Sumer by trying to turn the ball into the net from a corner, but the Bayern goalkeeper was vigilant and pushed it out of the field.

The hosts continued their attempts at the Bavarian goal with a powerful shot by Frimpong from outside the penalty area, but it passed near the post.

Frimpong then received a silk through ball, to launch into the penalty area before dodging Davis, after which he fired a creeping ground shot, which Sumer turned into a corner.

And from the first attempt, Bayern succeeded in shaking the net of its host in the middle of the first half, with Kim Kimmich’s ground shot, which hit the foot of one of the defenders and turned into the goal.

Diaby tried to respond after that with a quick shot, but Sumer was on the lookout, before Demirabi fired another shot over the crossbar, so the first half ended with the guests advancing with a goal without a response.

The beginning of the second half saw Bavarian coach Julian Nagelsmann make 3 substitutions at once, by directing Cancelo, Mueller, and Mane for Gnabry, Musiala, and Koeman.

afp 20230318 20230318 afp 33bl3qd afp 5 jpg

Back sponsored by the var

The first minutes of the second half witnessed intense pressure from Leverkusen, before Amin Adly fell inside the guests’ penalty area, demanding a penalty kick.

The referee decided to count a violation of Bayern for fraud and gave Adly a yellow card before reviewing the shot on the “var” screen, to retract his decisions and award a penalty kick to Leverkusen.

Palacios executed the penalty kick perfectly, equalizing the score for coach Xabi Alonso’s battalion.

Substitute Koeman sent an elaborate cross into the Leverkusen penalty area, Goritska rose to it with a header, but it was not strong enough and settled in the hands of goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky.

Musiala exchanged the ball with Gnabry inside the Leverkusen penalty area before the ball returned to the first and fired a dangerous shot that almost hit the net.

The scene of Amin Adly was repeated minutes later, after he fell following a collision with Upamecano, demanding a penalty kick, but the referee surprised him again by counting a violation against him for fraud and giving him another yellow card.

The referee again received a signal from the “var” room to review the shot, to go to the screen and find out that there was contact.

The referee returned to the stadium smiling and told Adly to withdraw the card again and awarded him a penalty kick, from which Palacios scored a second goal for the home owners.

The visiting team intensified its attacks after falling behind, and Hradecki got away from his goal by blocking two consecutive shots by Sani and Davies, to deny Bayern the score.

Leverkusen almost surprised Bayern with a third goal in the last minutes through counter-attacks, taking advantage of Bayern’s offensive rush to equalize the score, but the final touch was not accurate enough.

De Ligt was close to Hradecky’s net after directing an elaborate header toward Leverkusen’s goal, but the ball passed by the post.

In the last moments of the match, Leverkusen almost scored the third goal from a counterattack had it not been for the ingenuity of Jan Sumer, after which the referee blew the final whistle, with the victory of the landowners.

Leave a Reply