An unfamiliar Bayern side dropped points on their Bundesliga travels for the first time this term as Bavarian rivals Nürnberg clung on for a 1-1 draw in the 185th derby despite playing with ten men for the last quarter of an hour. It was certainly less than vintage from Jupp Heynckes’ much-changed side, although the away point at least means Munich consolidate their lead in the standings ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Champions League trip to Valencia.
The 50,000 capacity crowd in Nuremberg saw Mario Mandzukic hand the visitors a precious early lead, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and company content to preserve the advantage in a first half offering plenty of honest toil but few clear-cut chances.
Former FCB youth Markus Feulner levelled it up with a long-range swerver just a minute after the restart, and it was an even contest for a long spell as the re-energised home side gave as good as they got. However, after Timo Gebhart’s 77th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence, FCN parked the bus and the game ended in stalemate, a not unfair reflection of the play on the day.
The first draw of the season still means FCB maintain their record start to the season, as the Reds have won 10 of their 12 games so far and comfortably top the standings on 31 points, eight clear of Eintracht Frankfurt and Schalke, although the Gelsenkirchen side do not play until Sunday. The match action continues thick and fast with Heynckes and his troops travelling to Spain in midweek, before Hannover 96 visit the Bavarian capital next Saturday.
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