Bayern beaten by Augsburg

FC Bayern suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 1-0 away to FC Augsburg. Mergim Berisha netted the only goal of the game in the 59th minute for the hosts, who also had goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz to thank for a string of good saves.

There were three changes to the Bayern line-up from Tuesday’s win over Barcelona in the Champions League. Two of them were in defence, with Noussair Mazraoui making his first Bundesliga start in place of Benjamin Pavard and Matthijs de Ligt replacing the injured Lucas Hernández. The other change saw Leon Goretzka preferred to Marcel Sabitzer in midfield.  

End-to-end

The Bavarian derby got off to a lively start, with Augsburg certainly playing their part and offering the Munich men little time or space on the ball. Indeed, the home side had the first opening when Florian Niederlechner broke free, but his volley went into the ground and safely into the arms of Manuel Neuer. At the other end, Sadio Mané was played in by Mazraoui but was thwarted by Gikiewicz as he tried to round the Pole. Minutes later, Leroy Sané’s attempt was saved by the home goalkeeper.

Augsburg then had a mini spell of pressure with Niederlechner’s powerful shot being pushed away by Neuer after a mix-up in the Bayern defence, and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw volleying over after Berisha’s cross caused havoc in the penalty area. Bayern then regained the ascendancy, Jamal Musiala rolling the ball wide after being set up by Thomas Müller before his lob was cleared from the goal by Maximilian Bauer – who minutes earlier had headed over at the other end.

Not Bayern’s day

The contest continued in a similar vein after the break, with Julian Nagelsmann’s side dominating possession but being frustrated by the dogged hosts. Goretzka and Mané both sent shots straight at Gikiewicz, but it was Augsburg who made the breakthrough when Iago picked out Berisha in space in the penalty area, and he slotted it into the corner.

Bayern looked to respond immediately and had two good chances in quick succession, Müller’s shot being deflected behind and then Musiala hitting the side netting. Sané had even better opportunity soon after as he was sent through on goal, but Gikiewicz was once again equal to it. In the closing stages it was one-way traffic at the WWK Arena. Substitute Sabitzer fired just wide from outside the area, and then in the final action of the match, Neuer went up for a corner and met it with a powerful header that drew an excellent reaction save from his counterpart in the Augsburg goal.

Bayern return to Bundesliga action after the international break on Friday 30 September with a home match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (kick-off: 20:30 CEST).

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Joseph Rutter

Check out the photos from the game here: