Bayern Munich had their lead trimmed to five points as they lost their unbeaten Bundesliga record on Saturday in emphatic style, going down 3-1 away to Borussia Moenchengladbach.
It was only the second time Pep Guardiola’s Bayern have lost at all season after they went down 2-0 at Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League in October.
Moenchengladbach coach Andre Schubert praised his side’s “sensational performance,” while Guardiola said Bayern must learn from their mistakes.
Photo: AP
“We lost our control after they went 1-0 up and they started to counterattack,” the Spaniard said. “We have to be able to learn from this game that we should never allow that to happen.”
It was Bayern’s first Bundesliga defeat since losing 2-1 at SC Freiburg in May as second-half goals by Oscar Wendt, Lars Stindl and Fabian Johnson left the Bavarian giants reeling.
Franck Ribery scored Bayern’s late consolation goal on his return after nearly nine months out with an injury.
Photo: AFP
“It’s a pity, but it’s our own fault,” Ribery said.
“We will concentrate on the next game and hope to win,” he added, as Ingolstadt 04 can expect a Bayern backlash in Munich next Saturday.
Moenchengladbach took a deserved lead when Raffael gave a return pass to Wendt and the Sweden international fired past Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer on 54 minutes.
The hosts doubled their lead when Stindl volleyed home on 66 minutes.
Bayern centerback Jerome Boateng was caught out of position and Johnson sprinted away to launch a shot past Neuer on 68 minutes.
Bayern pulled a goal back nine minutes from time when Ribery marked his 300th game in the famous red shirt by scoring off the bench to celebrate his first appearance in 269 days following a persistent ankle injury.
It was the first time Bayern had conceded three goals since losing 3-0 at Barcelona in the first leg of last season’s Champions League semi-finals and their defeat leaves French champions Paris Saint-Germain as the only remaining unbeaten club in any of Europe’s traditional big five leagues.
For Moenchengladbach, the victory continued their fairy-tale rise from bottom of the table to third as they remain unbeaten after 10 Bundesliga games under Schubert.
Bayern’s lead was cut to five points as second-placed Borussia Dortmund won 2-1 at VfL Wolfsburg thanks to Shinji Kagawa’s dramatic 93rd-minute winner.
A first-half goal by Germany international Marco Reus was canceled out by a Ricardo Rodriguez penalty with the 90 minutes up, but there was still time for Japan international Kagawa to hit the winner with virtually the last kick of the game.
The defeat knocks Wolfsburg’s confidence ahead of tomorrow’s decisive Champions League clash against Manchester United in which they need a draw to qualify for the round-of-16.
Elsewhere, 10-man Bayer 04 Leverkusen warmed up for their home clash with Champions League holders Barcelona on Wednesday by losing 2-1 at Hertha BSC in the capital as Javier Hernandez netted what proved to be a consolation goal.
Hernandez scored his seventh goal in 12 league games for Leverkusen to cancel out Vladimir Darida’s early opener for Hertha at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
Leverkusen were reduced to 10 men when centerback Sebastian Boenisch was shown a straight red card with just 17 minutes gone for a brutal sliding tackle on Hertha’s 19-year-old leftback Yanni Regaesel.
Hertha scored their second through US international John Anthony Brooks and the win left them fourth as Leverkusen drop to eighth.
FSV Mainz 05 were seventh after their 3-1 win at Hamburg SV, while Mark Uth’s 96th-minute goal rescued a 1-1 draw for struggling TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Ingolstadt 04.
Augsburg escaped the bottom three with a 1-0 win at Cologne as Paraguay striker Raul Bobadilla fired in a second-half free-kick.
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