Bundesliga leaders Bayern unluckily fell to only their second defeat of the season in a pulsating encounter away to obdurate Hannover on Sunday. For the neutrals it was a match that had it all, with two sendings-off, shots rattling the woodwork, a penalty, a deflected goal and 90 minutes of frenetic action, but fortune favoured the home side and FCB fell short of a record ninth straight league match without conceding.
The 49,000 full house at the AWD Arena saw Mohammed Abdellaoue break the deadlock from the spot midway through an incident-packed first half, and there was another blow for Jupp Heynckes’ men when Jerome Boateng received his marching orders for retaliation just five minutes later.
Mario Gomez was twice denied by home keeper Ron-Robert Zieler as FCB roared off the blocks after the restart, but Luiz Gustavo unluckily diverted Christian Pander’s speculative effort past Manuel Neuer to double the deficit. It became a game of ten against ten shortly after the hour when home skipper Steve Cherundolo saw a second yellow card, but it took until the 83rd minute before sub David Alaba deservedly pulled one back, and Munich’s thrilling late rally was destined to go unrewarded.
Ten games into the season, the result means the men from Munich remain top of the Bundesliga on 22 points, three clear of second-placed Dortmund and four ahead of Schalke in third. The Bavarians’ busy schedule continues on Wednesday with the DFB Cup clash at home to FC Ingolstadt.
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