Unlucky Reds held by high-flyers Hoffenheim

FC Bayern were held to a frustrating home draw by TSG Hoffenheim in Saturday's Bundesliga Matchday 10 fixture. Kerem Demirbay put the visitors ahead 15 minutes into the contest before Steven Zuber levelled the scores, putting through his own goal after the half-hour. Bayern missed several gilt-edged chances particularly in the dying stages of the match, hitting the woodwork twice, but a crucial second refused to come.

The home team started with Manuel Neuer between the sticks behind a back four of Rafinha, Jérôme Boateng, Mats Hummels and Juan Bernat. Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Arturo Vidal took up station in midfield, with Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa out wide and Robert Lewandowski as the target man.

Carlo Ancelotti made four changes to the team that saw off Eindhoven on Tuesday. Thiago, Costa, Rafinha and Bernat replaced Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm and David Alaba. Müller came on for Vidal midway through the second half, Kingsley Coman and Alaba took over from Robben and Boateng in the closing stages.

After match official Markus Schmidt whistled play underway the men from Munich dominated possession but struggled to make headway against the visitors, who stifled sustained FCB's attempts at fluid passing and were strong in the one-on-one situations. The first chance fell to the German record champions, but Robben aimed too high after a one-two with Lewandowski. After a rather dour first quarter-hour Vogt sprayed a through-ball to Amiri, who set up the unmarked Demirbay to blast into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box.

The game sprang to life after the opener, with Bayern camping out in Hoffenheim's half. Visiting netminder Oliver Baumann proved equal to Thiago after a Costa cross, before the Reds made their dominance count when Robben teed up Costa on the right and Zuber put the Brazilian's cross through his own goal as he sought to thwart the lurking Lewandowski right behind him. Zuber made a hash of trying to clear the ball, taking Baumann by surprise.

Woodwork saves the visitors

The 75,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw Bayern dominate proceedings fully after the interval and Hoffenheim were reeling at times, but the champions failed to create any gilt-edged chances at first. Lewandowski and Thiago were unable to capitalise on a mix-up in the TSG box after the hour mark.

But by the closing stages chances were coming thick and fast for the Bavarians. Baumann saved a Müller header from 12 yards before Hummels struck the post with three minutes to go. Hummels missed two more chances, seeing one header saved by Baumann and another going over the bar. A Lewandowski shot was blocked before Müller hit the post, but somehow Bayern failed to convert their performance into a victory, and both sides remain unbeaten in the current Bundesliga campaign.

The result means Bayern have 24 points from ten matches. A large number of FCB pros will be away on national team duty during the international break before the German record champions travel to face arch-rivals Dortmund on 19 November.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Gregor Salmen

FC Bayern - TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 1-1 (H-T: 1-1)

 

FC Bayern	Neuer - Rafinha, Boateng (Alaba 82), Hummels, Bernat - Thiago, Alonso, Vidal (Müller 69) - Robben (Coman 78), Lewandowski, Costa
Subs	Ulreich - Sanches, Lahm, Kimmich
TSG Hoffenheim	Baumann - Süle, Vogt, Hübner (Bicakcic 46) - Rudy - Kaderábek, Amiri (Rupp 57), Demirbay, Zuber - Wagner, Kramaric (Vargas 71)
Subs	Stolz - Polanski, Toljan, Szalai
Referee	Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
Attendance	75,000 (capacity)
Goals	0-1 Demirbay (16), 1-1 Zuber (34, og)
Yellow cards	- / Rudy (56), Bicakcic (90)