Thomas Mueller scored a last-minute penalty for Bayern Munich to beat Augsburg 2-1 and Borussia Dortmund maintained their perfect Bundesliga start by defeating Hannover 96 4-2 on Saturday.
Hannover defender Felipe scored an own-goal and gave away two penalties in a match to forget for the Brazilian.
Alexander Esswein stunned Bayern when he struck for Augsburg two minutes before the break, but Robert Lewandowski equalized in the 77th minute and Mueller made no mistake from the spot after Markus Feulner was adjudged to have fouled Douglas Costa.
Photo: AFP
Video replay showed it was a soft decision by the referee’s assistant, with the Bayern winger running into Feulner and then falling.
“We looked at the replay and I have to say the assistant was wrong. We should have let play continue. Sorry, we’re sorry,” referee Knut Kirchner said.
Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl called it a “catastrophic decision,” while Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said: “I don’t like to win like that.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both penalties for Dortmund, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan adding a fine strike and Felipe doing the rest. Artur Sobiech scored twice for Hannover.
“This win feels very well deserved. We know how much hard work is involved,” Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said.
Alexander Meier marked his return from a knee operation with a hat-trick as he led Eintracht Frankfurt to a 6-2 rout of Cologne in the late game.
Meier, last season’s top scorer, who had not played since April 4, opened the scoring with a header, made it 3-0 in off the post and completed the scoring with another header in the 87th minute. Luc Castaignos added two as Frankfurt moved into fourth place.
“The muscles are a little tired, but it’s OK. Everything’s fine,” Meier said.
Promoted SV Darmstadt 98 upset Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1-0 away for their first win thanks to Aytac Sulu’s eighth-minute header, Ingolstadt 04 and VfL Wolfsburg could draw only 0-0, while Hertha BSC defeated VfB Stuttgart 2-1 at home.
“We’re proud that we can celebrate the first victory in 33 years with Darmstadt,” Darmstadt coach Dirk Schuster said of the club’s long absence from the top flight.
Mdfielder Genki Haraguchi put Hertha ahead in the 14th minute, Toni Sunjic equalized in the 26th, but Fabien Lustenberger scored a spectacular winner in first-half stoppage-time to propel Hertha to sixth place and leave Stuttgart contemplating their fourth defeat from four matches.
Bayern players took to the field holding hands with children on either side, a migrant child on one side, in “a symbol for the integration of refugees.”
The hosts dominated possession, but struggled to make leeway early on. Thomas Mueller twice went close before Marwin Hitz made a great save to deny Thiago Alcantara.
Esswein struck for Augsburg with what was the visitors’ only shot on target. They had four shots, compared with 27 for Bayern.
Guardiola brought France under-21 winger Kingsley Coman on for his Bundesliga debut in the second half, but the 19-year-old who claimed on Thursday he could “make the difference in every minute” failed to back up his words.
Bayern increased the pace and Lewandowski finally made the breakthrough when he stabbed home from close range after Hitz blocked Mueller’s initial effort.
Mueller made sure that Bayern kept pace with Dortmund at the top after Costa’s late fall. Dortmund lead on goal-difference.
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